A Pilot Study of Serum MicroRNAs Panel as Potential Biomarkers for Diagnosis of Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease

Abstract

BackgroundThe invasive nature of liver biopsy makes the histopathological diagnosis of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) difficult and its diagnostic performance unsatisfactory. The present study aimed to identify a serum microRNA (miRNA) expression profile that could serve as a novel diagnostic biomarker for NAFLD.MethodsSerum miRNA expression was investigated using three cohorts comprising 465 participants (healthy controls and NAFLD patients) recruited between August 2010 and June 2013. miRNA expression was initially screened by Illumina sequencing using serum samples pooled from 20 patients and 20 controls. Quantitative reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction assay was then used to evaluate the expression of selected miRNAs. A logistic regression model was constructed using a training cohort (n = 242) and validated using another cohort (n = 183). The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) was used to evaluate diagnostic accuracy.ResultsWe identified an miRNA panel (hsa-miR-122-5p, hsa-miR-1290, hsa-miR-27b-3p, and hsa-miR-192-5p) with a high diagnostic accuracy for NAFLD. The satisfactory diagnostic performance of the miRNA panel remained regardless of the NAFLD activity score (NAS) status. There was significant difference between the AUC values of the miRNA panel and those of ALT (AUC = 0.786, 95% CI = 0.717–0.855; P = 0.142) and FIB-4 (AUC = 0.795, 95% CI = 0.730–0.860; sensitivity = 69.9%, specificity = 83.7%.ConclusionWe identified a serum microRNA panel with considerable clinical value in NAFLD diagnosis. The results indicate that the miRNA panel is a more sensitive and specific biomarker for NAFLD than ALT and FIB-4.

miR33a/miR33b* and miR122 as Possible Contributors to Hepatic Lipid Metabolism in Obese Women with Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease

“…We detected a correlation between serum and hepatic miR122 expression, in agreement with other authors [45], which suggests that miR122 released from hepatic cells enters the bloodstream. However, Pirola et al described an inverse relationship between the circulating and tissue expression of miR122 , and suggested that the lower expression of miR122 in liver is a consequence of a high rate of release into the circulation [26].…”

A micro-RNA expression signature for human NAFLD progression

“…Interestingly, only the elevations in miR-34a and miR-122 were significant in both men and women. Tan et al identified miR-122–5p, miR-1290, miR-27b-3p and miR-192–5p as a panel of high diagnostic accuracy for NAFLD in a population with low BMI (25.2 kg/m 2 ) and low NAS scores [52]. Similarly, Celikbilek et al .…”

Current biomarkers for hepatocellular carcinoma: Surveillance, diagnosis and prediction of prognosis

“…In similar fashion, miR-122, the most abundant miRNA of the liver, was also found at high level in sera from HCC patients [71,72] . However, the level of circulating miR-122 may be strongly influenced by inflammation or apoptosis of hepatocytes in such conditions as acute or chronic hepatitis or nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, suggesting that background condition of the liver inflammation may strongly influence the miR-122 level [74] . Nevertheless, the data from candidate-based studies correlate with the data from Link et al [54] at least for both miRNAs miR-21 and miR-122 [69] .…”