Zhao Li, Yang Qian, Liu Jianbo
Department of Infectious Diseases, Yidu Central Hospital of Weifang, Qingzhou, Shandong, China.
Public Health Division, Yidu Central Hospital of Weifang, Qingzhou, Shandong, China.
Open Forum Infect Dis. 2021 Mar 6;8(6):ofab108. doi: 10.1093/ofid/ofab108. eCollection 2021 Jun.
Patients with hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection are at high risk of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). This study aimed to evaluate the expression of microRNA-324-3p (miR-324-3p) in HBV-related HCC and explore the clinical significance of serum miR-324-3p and other available biomarkers in the diagnosis and prognosis of HBV-related HCC.
Expression of miR-324-3p in HBV infection-related cells and patients was estimated using quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves were constructed to evaluate the diagnostic performance of serum miR-324-3p, alpha-fetoprotein (AFP), and protein induced by vitamin K absence/antagonist II (PIVKA-II) in the differentiation of HBV-related HCC from healthy controls and chronic hepatitis B patients (CHB). The relationship between serum miR-324-3p and patients' clinical features was assessed using the chi-square test, and the value of miR-324-3p to predict overall survival prognosis was evaluated using Kaplan-Meier methods and Cox regression assay in patients with HBV-related HCC.
HBV-related HCC cells had significantly increased miR-324-3p compared with normal and HBV-unrelated HCC cells, and serum miR-324-3p in HCC patients with HBV infection was also higher than that in healthy controls and CHB. Serum miR-324-3p had relatively high diagnostic accuracy for the screening of HCC cases with HBV infection, and the combination of miR-324-3p, AFP, and PIVKA-II showed improved diagnostic performance. Additionally, high-serum miR-324-2p in HBV-related HCC patients was associated with cirrhosis, tumor size, clinical stage, and poor overall survival prognosis.
High-serum miR-324-3p may be involved in the progression of HBV-related hepatitis to HCC and may serve as a candidate biomarker for the diagnosis and prognosis of HBV-related HCC.
乙型肝炎病毒（HBV）感染患者患肝细胞癌（HCC）的风险很高。本研究旨在评估微小RNA-324-3p（miR-324-3p）在HBV相关肝癌中的表达，并探讨血清miR-324-3p及其他可用生物标志物在HBV相关肝癌诊断和预后中的临床意义。
采用定量实时聚合酶链反应（PCR）评估miR-324-3p在HBV感染相关细胞和患者中的表达。构建受试者工作特征（ROC）曲线，以评估血清miR-324-3p、甲胎蛋白（AFP）和维生素K缺乏/拮抗剂II诱导蛋白（PIVKA-II）在区分HBV相关肝癌与健康对照和慢性乙型肝炎患者（CHB）中的诊断性能。采用卡方检验评估血清miR-324-3p与患者临床特征之间的关系，并采用Kaplan-Meier方法和Cox回归分析评估miR-324-3p对HBV相关肝癌患者总生存预后的预测价值。
与正常和HBV无关的肝癌细胞相比，HBV相关肝癌细胞中的miR-324-3p显著增加，HBV感染的肝癌患者血清miR-324-3p也高于健康对照和CHB患者。血清miR-324-3p对筛查HBV感染的肝癌病例具有较高的诊断准确性，miR-324-3p、AFP和PIVKA-II联合检测显示出更好的诊断性能。此外，HBV相关肝癌患者血清miR-324-2p水平升高与肝硬化、肿瘤大小、临床分期及总生存预后不良相关。
血清miR-324-3p水平升高可能参与HBV相关肝炎向肝癌的进展，可能作为HBV相关肝癌诊断和预后的候选生物标志物。
