Miyaaki Hisamitsu, Ichikawa Tatsuki, Kamo Yasuhiro, Taura Naota, Honda Takuya, Shibata Hidetaka, Milazzo Maddalena, Fornari Francesca, Gramantieri Laura, Bolondi Luigi, Nakao Kazuhiko
Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Nagasaki University Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Nagasaki, Japan.
Liver Int. 2014 Aug;34(7):e302-7. doi: 10.1111/liv.12429. Epub 2014 Jan 7.
BACKGROUND & AIMS: Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is believed to be a type of metabolic syndrome. MicroRNA-122 (miR-122) is the most abundant microRNA in the liver and is an important factor for the metabolism of glucose and lipids. In the present study, we examined the correlation between the hepatic and serum miR-122 expression levels and the clinicopathological factors of patients with NAFLD.
We extracted the total RNA, along with preserved miRNAs, from liver biopsy samples of 67 patients with NAFLD. In 52 of these 67 patients, the total RNA was extracted from serum. The miR-122 that was obtained by quantitative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction was quantified using TaqMan MicroRNA assays.
A significant correlation was detected between serum and hepatic miR-122 expression (correlation coefficient, 0.461; P=0.005). Patients with mild steatosis (<33%) showed significantly lower levels of hepatic miR-122 compared with patients with severe steatosis (>33%) (hepatic miR-122: mild/severe=2.158±1.786/4.836±7.506, P=0.0473; serum miR-122: mild/severe=0.002±0.005/0.007±0.001, P=0.0491). Moreover, hepatic and serum miR-122 levels were significantly higher in patients with mild fibrosis than in those with severe fibrosis (hepatic miR-122: mild/severe=5.201±7.275/2.394±1.547, P=0.0087; serum miR-122: mild/severe=0.008±0.011/0.002±0.004, P=0.0191).
We found that the hepatic and serum miR-122 levels were associated with hepatic steatosis and fibrosis. The serum miR-122 level can be a useful predictive marker of liver fibrosis in patients with NAFLD.
非酒精性脂肪性肝病（NAFLD）被认为是一种代谢综合征。微小RNA - 122（miR - 122）是肝脏中含量最丰富的微小RNA，是葡萄糖和脂质代谢的重要因素。在本研究中，我们检测了NAFLD患者肝脏和血清中miR - 122表达水平与临床病理因素之间的相关性。
我们从67例NAFLD患者的肝活检样本中提取了总RNA以及保存的微小RNA。在这67例患者中的52例中，从血清中提取了总RNA。通过定量逆转录 - 聚合酶链反应获得的miR - 122使用TaqMan微小RNA分析进行定量。
血清和肝脏miR - 122表达之间存在显著相关性（相关系数，0.461；P = 0.005）。轻度脂肪变性（<33%）的患者与重度脂肪变性（>33%）的患者相比，肝脏miR - 122水平显著降低（肝脏miR - 122：轻度/重度 = 2.158±1.786/4.836±7.506，P = 0.0473；血清miR - 122：轻度/重度 = 0.002±0.005/0.007±0.001，P = 0.0491）。此外，轻度纤维化患者的肝脏和血清miR - 122水平显著高于重度纤维化患者（肝脏miR - 122：轻度/重度 = 5.201±7.275/2.394±1.547，P = 0.0087；血清miR - 122：轻度/重度 = 0.008±0.011/0.002±0.004，P = 0.0191）。
我们发现肝脏和血清miR - 122水平与肝脏脂肪变性和纤维化相关。血清miR - 122水平可能是NAFLD患者肝纤维化的有用预测标志物。
