Microbiology and Medical Immunology Unit, Pathology Departments, College of Medicine, Jouf University, Sakaka, Saudi Arabia.
Department of Microbiology & Medical Immunology, Faculty of Medicine, Kafrelsheikh University, Kafrelsheikh, Egypt.
J Med Virol. 2019 Dec;91(12):2166-2173. doi: 10.1002/jmv.25559. Epub 2019 Aug 11.
Persistence of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection and response to antiviral therapy has been shown to be associated with inappropriate levels of cytokines and microRNAs (miRNAs). miRNA levels have been reported to fluctuate during treatment. Thus they could be useful predictors for responses to treatment among HCV infected patients, thereby reducing ineffective treatments.
The current study aimed to investigate the relation between miRNA-21 expression profiles, transforming growth factor β (TGF-β) serum levels and response to treatment with the new direct antiviral drugs (sofosbuvir + daclatasvir ± ribavirin), among HCV infected Egyptian patients.
This prospective study was conducted on 50 HCV infected patients (before and after treatment) and 20 healthy volunteers. miRNA expression profiles were determined by real-time polymerase chain reaction and TGF-β1 serum levels were measured by using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay.
There was a significant increase in serum albumin, platelets count and a significant decrease in liver enzymes, serum bilirubin, and prothrombin time after treatment. Significant reduction of viral load among HCV patients after receiving the treatment was reported. Concomitantly, there was an increase in the relative quantity of miRNA-21 (P = .001*) and serum levels of TGF-β1 ( P = .337) among HCV patients after receiving treatment.
Nearly all responders to direct antiviral drugs showed increased levels of both miRNA-21 and TGF-β1. This may indicate an interplay between TGF-β1 and miRNA-21 during remission or progression of viral infection. Thus miRNA-21 could be used as promising serum biomarker, for assessment of antiviral treatment efficacy and improvement of fibrosis among chronically infected HCV patients.
丙型肝炎病毒（HCV）感染的持续存在和抗病毒治疗的反应已被证明与细胞因子和 microRNAs（miRNAs）水平的不适当有关。据报道，miRNA 水平在治疗过程中会波动。因此，它们可能是 HCV 感染患者对治疗反应的有用预测指标，从而减少无效治疗。
本研究旨在调查 miRNA-21 表达谱、转化生长因子-β（TGF-β）血清水平与新的直接抗病毒药物（索非布韦+达卡他韦±利巴韦林）治疗反应之间的关系，在埃及 HCV 感染患者中。
这项前瞻性研究共纳入 50 例 HCV 感染患者（治疗前后）和 20 名健康志愿者。通过实时聚合酶链反应测定 miRNA 表达谱，通过酶联免疫吸附试验测定 TGF-β1 血清水平。
治疗后血清白蛋白、血小板计数显著增加，肝酶、血清胆红素、凝血酶原时间显著降低。报道 HCV 患者治疗后病毒载量显著降低。同时，接受治疗后 HCV 患者的 miRNA-21 相对数量（P = .001*）和 TGF-β1 血清水平（P = .337）均增加。
几乎所有对直接抗病毒药物有反应的患者均显示出 miRNA-21 和 TGF-β1 水平升高。这可能表明 TGF-β1 和 miRNA-21 在病毒感染的缓解或进展过程中存在相互作用。因此，miRNA-21 可作为有前途的血清生物标志物，用于评估抗病毒治疗效果和改善慢性 HCV 感染患者的纤维化。
