Hepatic expression of miR‐122, miR‐126, miR‐136 and miR‐181a and their correlation to histopathological and clinical characteristics of patients with hepatitis C. Issue 2 (25th July 2014)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Boštjančič, E.; Bandelj, E.; Luzar, B.; Poljak, M.; Glavač, D.
• Is Part Of: Journal of viral hepatitis. Volume 22:Issue 2(2015)
• Page Start: 144
• Page End: 155
• Publication Date: 2014-07-25
• Subjects: Hepatitis, Viral -- Periodicals; Hepatitis, Viral, Animal; Hepatitis, Viral, Human; 616.3623
• DOI: 10.1111/jvh.12266
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1352-0504

Abstract

<abstract abstract-type="main" id="jvh12266-abs-0001"> <title>Summary</title> <p>It has been shown for hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection that host miRNAs contribute to the replication of the viral RNA genome. However, the clinical impact of these and many other cellular miRNAs on HCV in humans is still largely unclear. We therefore analysed the expression of <italic>miR‐122</italic>, <italic> miR‐126</italic>, <italic> miR‐181a</italic> and <italic>miR‐136</italic> in HCV‐infected patients. The study included liver biopsies of 65 patients infected with HCV of different genotypes (gt 1, gt 1a, gt 1b, gt 3 and gt 4) and nine noninfected individuals. Expression analysis of miRNAs was performed by qPCR, and they were analysed for differences between patient gender and age, genotypes, stage of fibrosis, grade of inflammation, serum level of liver enzymes, serum viral load, the presence of steatosis and mode of transmission. Different target prediction algorithms were used to search for targets of analyzed miRNAs. Statistical analysis revealed significant up‐regulation of <italic>miR‐136</italic> and down‐regulation of <italic>miR‐126</italic> and <italic>miR‐181a</italic> in patients infected with HCV of different genotypes compared with noninfected individuals. The same expression pattern was observed in different stages and grades of liver disease. <italic>miR‐122</italic> was up‐regulated in women relative to men and associated to portal inflammation, <italic>miR‐122</italic> and <italic>miR‐126</italic> correlated with serum HCV load and <italic>miR‐136</italic> and <italic>miR‐122</italic> correlated with the presence of steatosis. <italic>miR‐126</italic> and <italic>miR‐136</italic> were differentially expressed between different modes of HCV transmission. There were approximately 2000 different targets predicted for all four miRNAs and each of the analyzed miRNAs could be involved in more than a 100 different biochemical pathways. <italic>miR‐122</italic>, <italic> miR‐126</italic>, <italic> miR‐136</italic> and <italic>miR‐181a</italic> have been shown to be involved in HCV infection with different genotypes. Their expression has been associated with the gender, stage and grade of liver disease, mode of transmission, serum HCV load and the presence of steatosis. Numerous target genes and biochemical pathways are predicted for each of the analyzed miRNAs. All these results suggest their role in HCV‐infected liver disease.</p> </abstract>