Discipline of Virology, School of Laboratory Medicine and Medical Sciences, University of KwaZulu-Natal and National Health Laboratory Service, 800 Vusi Mzimela Road, Durban, 4058, South Africa.
Department of Virology, School of Pathology, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, and National Health Laboratory Service (NHLS), Johannesburg, South Africa.
BMC Infect Dis. 2024 Aug 16;24(1):833. doi: 10.1186/s12879-024-09715-0.
Hepatitis B virus (HBV) and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) co-infection are significant public health issues, despite the availability of an effective HBV vaccine for nearly three decades and the great progress that has been made in preventing and treating HIV. HBV and HIV both modulate micro-ribonucleic acids (microRNA) expression to support viral replication. The aim of this study was to describe the pattern of microRNA expression in patients coinfected with chronic HBV and HIV with varying disease severity, as indicated by Hepatitis B e antigen (HBeAg) status, HBV viral load, alanine transaminase (ALT) levels, and HIV viral load.
Plasma microRNAs, specific to HBV, were measured by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) in HBV and HIV-negative healthy controls (n = 23) and patients coinfected with chronic HBV-HIV (n = 50). MicroRNA expression levels were compared between patients with high vs low HBV viral load, HBeAg positive vs HBeAg negative, high vs low ALT levels, and high vs low HIV viral load. Additionally, HBV viral load, ALT levels, and HIV viral load were correlated with microRNA expression levels.
Significantly higher expression levels of selected microRNAs were observed in chronic HBV-HIV coinfected patients compared to healthy controls. Significantly higher expression levels of hsa-miR-122-5p, hsa-miR-192-5p, and hsa-miR-193b-3p were observed in patients with high HBV viral load compared with low HBV viral load patients, and the levels of these microRNAs were correlated with HBV viral load levels. Significantly higher levels of hsa-miR-15b-5p and hsa-miR-181b-5p were observed in HBeAg-negative patients.
This study demonstrates the potential use of hsa-miR-15b-5p, hsa-miR-122-5p, hsa-miR-181b-5p, hsa-miR-192-5p and hsa-miR-193b-3p as additional diagnostic biomarkers in chronic HBV disease progression.
尽管近三十年来已有有效的乙型肝炎病毒 (HBV) 疫苗，并且在预防和治疗人类免疫缺陷病毒 (HIV) 方面取得了巨大进展，但 HBV 和 HIV 合并感染仍是重大的公共卫生问题。HBV 和 HIV 均可调节微小核糖核酸 (miRNA) 的表达，以支持病毒复制。本研究旨在描述慢性 HBV 和 HIV 合并感染患者的 miRNA 表达模式，这些患者的疾病严重程度不同，表现为 HBeAg 状态、HBV 病毒载量、丙氨酸转氨酶 (ALT) 水平和 HIV 病毒载量的不同。
通过实时定量聚合酶链反应 (qRT-PCR) 测量 HBV 和 HIV 阴性健康对照者 (n=23) 和慢性 HBV-HIV 合并感染者 (n=50) 血浆中的 HBV 特异性 microRNA。比较高病毒载量与低病毒载量、HBeAg 阳性与 HBeAg 阴性、高 ALT 水平与低 ALT 水平以及高 HIV 病毒载量与低 HIV 病毒载量患者之间的 microRNA 表达水平。此外，还将 HBV 病毒载量、ALT 水平和 HIV 病毒载量与 microRNA 表达水平进行了相关性分析。
与健康对照组相比，慢性 HBV-HIV 合并感染者的 microRNA 表达水平显著升高。与低病毒载量患者相比，高病毒载量患者的 hsa-miR-122-5p、hsa-miR-192-5p 和 hsa-miR-193b-3p 表达水平显著升高，这些 microRNA 的水平与 HBV 病毒载量水平相关。HBeAg 阴性患者的 hsa-miR-15b-5p 和 hsa-miR-181b-5p 水平显著升高。
本研究表明 hsa-miR-15b-5p、hsa-miR-122-5p、hsa-miR-181b-5p、hsa-miR-192-5p 和 hsa-miR-193b-3p 可作为慢性 HBV 疾病进展的附加诊断生物标志物。
