Tabar Asad Laleh Rana, Sharifi Zohreh, Pourfathollah Ali Akbar
Blood Transfusion Research Center, High Institute for Research and Education in Transfusion Medicine, Tehran, Iran.
Departments of Immunology, Faculty of Medical Sciences, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Iran.
Med J Islam Repub Iran. 2021 Oct 19;35:137. doi: 10.47176/mjiri.35.137. eCollection 2021.
The microRNA-122 (miR-122) is a liver-specific microRNA that can be used as a potential molecular marker for predicting liver injury. There is a positive correlation between miR-122 level in serum and hepatitis B virus (HBV) replication in patients infected with this virus. The present study was conducted to study the clinical importance and expression of miR-122 in asymptomatic and symptomatic patients with HBV infection in comparison to the healthy group. This study was performed on 60 samples to examine the presence of HBsAg and total HBc antibody (IgM-IgG) using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. HBV-DNA extraction and real time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assay were performed on all samples via the Real ART HBV LC PCR kit on a LightCycler instrument. RNA was extracted from the serum of all participants. Next, miRNA expression was assessed using quantitative real time reverse-transcription PCR. Also, ALT levels were measured as a surrogate parameter for liver injury using Pars Azmoon Biochemical assay Kit on Hitachi autoanalyzer. The Levene, Kruskal Wallis, Mann-Whitney and Spearman's correlation tests were used for assessing the differences between the studied groups. Based on the obtained results, miR-122 expression in patients with HBV without clinical symptoms was 1.6 times, while in patients with clinical symptoms was 2.7 times more than the control group (p=0.001). A significant increase was observed in the ALT enzyme of symptomatic patients (p=0.001). HBV DNA in the people with clinical symptoms was higher than 105 copies/mL and in the asymptomatic group was less than 103 copies/mL, suggesting a statistically significant increase in a group with clinical symptoms (p=0.001). Finally, it was found that the miR-122 serum concentration correlated with HBV DNA and serum ALT (p=0.001). Based on the obtained results, measuring the miR-122 levels can serve as a biomarker and an indicator of hepatitis B replication, especially in cases where ALT levels are unchanged; however, more research and more samples are needed.
微小RNA - 122（miR - 122）是一种肝脏特异性微小RNA，可作为预测肝损伤的潜在分子标志物。感染该病毒的患者血清中miR - 122水平与乙型肝炎病毒（HBV）复制之间存在正相关。本研究旨在比较健康组与无症状和有症状HBV感染患者中miR - 122的临床重要性和表达情况。本研究对60份样本进行检测，采用酶联免疫吸附测定法检测HBsAg和总HBc抗体（IgM - IgG）的存在情况。通过Real ART HBV LC PCR试剂盒在LightCycler仪器上对所有样本进行HBV - DNA提取和实时聚合酶链反应（PCR）检测。从所有参与者的血清中提取RNA。接下来，使用定量实时逆转录PCR评估miRNA表达。此外，使用日立自动分析仪上的Pars Azmoon生化检测试剂盒测量ALT水平，作为肝损伤的替代参数。使用Levene检验、Kruskal Wallis检验、Mann - Whitney检验和Spearman相关性检验来评估研究组之间的差异。根据所得结果，无症状HBV患者中miR - 122的表达是对照组的1.6倍，有症状患者中miR - 122的表达是对照组的2.7倍（p = 0.001）。有症状患者的ALT酶显著升高（p = 0.001）。有临床症状患者的HBV DNA高于105拷贝/毫升，无症状组低于103拷贝/毫升，表明有临床症状组有统计学显著升高（p = 0.001）。最后，发现miR - 122血清浓度与HBV DNA和血清ALT相关（p = 0.001）。根据所得结果，测量miR - 122水平可作为乙型肝炎复制的生物标志物和指标，特别是在ALT水平未改变的情况下；然而，还需要更多的研究和更多的样本。
