Nakamura Masato, Kanda Tatsuo, Jiang Xia, Haga Yuki, Takahashi Koji, Wu Shuang, Yasui Shin, Nakamoto Shingo, Yokosuka Osamu
Department of Gastroenterology and Nephrology, Chiba University, Graduate School of Medicine, Chiba, Japan.
Department of Molecular Virology, Chiba University, Graduate School of Medicine, Chiba, Japan.
PLoS One. 2017 May 5;12(5):e0177302. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0177302. eCollection 2017.
Noninvasive methods to accurately and conveniently evaluate liver fibrosis are desirable. MicroRNA (miR) is one of the candidates. MiRs are small RNAs consisting of 19-25 nucleotides that negatively regulate many target genes at transcriptional levels. Recently, many researchers have focused on circulating miRs in the blood stream as biomarkers. Hepatic miR-122 has been reported to have an association with viral replication and hepatic fibrosis in chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) and hepatic C virus (HCV) infection.
We measured serum miR-122 levels in HBV- and HCV-infected patients confirmed with liver biopsy. We also investigated a novel liver fibrosis marker Wisteria floribunda agglutinin-positive Mac-2 binding protein [WFA(+)-M2BP]. We evaluated the diagnostic usefulness of these markers in hepatic fibrosis and inflammation of patients with chronic viral infection.
The serum miR-122 levels of HBV-infected patients were higher than those of the control subjects. In HBV-infected patients, the serum miR-122 levels of patients with advanced liver fibrosis were significantly lower. Serum WFA(+)-M2BP was significantly higher dependent on both the staging of fibrosis and the grading of inflammatory activity in patients with both HBV and HCV infection. We also observed that higher serum WFA(+)-M2BP levels augmented the prediction of advanced liver fibrosis among HBV-infected patients with lower serum miR-122 levels.
A lower serum miR-122 level is a useful predictor of advanced liver fibrosis in HBV-infected patients. Serum WFA(+)-M2BP could predict liver fibrosis in both HBV and HCV infection. The combination of these markers may result in the more accurate evaluation of liver fibrosis in HBV infection.
准确且便捷地评估肝纤维化的非侵入性方法备受期待。微小RNA（miR）是其中一个候选指标。miR是由19 - 25个核苷酸组成的小RNA，可在转录水平对许多靶基因进行负调控。近来，诸多研究者聚焦于将血流中的循环miR作为生物标志物。据报道，肝miR - 122与慢性乙型肝炎病毒（HBV）及丙型肝炎病毒（HCV）感染中的病毒复制和肝纤维化相关。
我们测定了经肝活检确诊的HBV和HCV感染患者的血清miR - 122水平。我们还研究了一种新型肝纤维化标志物紫藤凝集素阳性Mac - 2结合蛋白[WFA(+) - M2BP]。我们评估了这些标志物在慢性病毒感染患者肝纤维化和炎症诊断中的效用。
HBV感染患者的血清miR - 122水平高于对照组。在HBV感染患者中，晚期肝纤维化患者的血清miR - 122水平显著更低。血清WFA(+) - M2BP在HBV和HCV感染患者中均显著升高，且与纤维化分期及炎症活动分级相关。我们还观察到，在血清miR - 122水平较低的HBV感染患者中，较高的血清WFA(+) - M2BP水平增强了对晚期肝纤维化的预测能力。
较低的血清miR - 122水平是HBV感染患者晚期肝纤维化的有用预测指标。血清WFA(+) - M2BP可预测HBV和HCV感染中的肝纤维化。这些标志物的联合使用可能会更准确地评估HBV感染中的肝纤维化。
