Detection of MicroRNA in Hepatic Cirrhosis and Hepatocellular Carcinoma in Hepatitis C Genotype-4 in Egyptian Patients

Abstract

Background In Egypt, the prevalence of chronic hepatitis C (CHC) infection is 13.8% of whole population and about 80% of the patients with hepatocellular carcinoma have underling hepatitis C. Aim This study was designed to assess the diagnostic value of plasma miR-122 and miR-21 in patients with CHC, genotype-4, to detect fibrosis progression versus noninvasive indices and their diagnostic value in detection of early stages of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Methodology A prospective study that included 180 patients, divided into 3 groups: healthy controls (group I), CHC patients (group II), and hepatitis C patients with HCC (group III); all cases were subjected to thorough clinical, radiological, and laboratory investigations. Selected biomarkers were evaluated and correlated with degree of liver damage. Results revealed that miR-122 followed by miR-21 had the highest efficiency in prediction of liver cell damage. Also, miR-21 was strongly correlated with vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and alpha fetoprotein (α-FP) in HCC patients. Conclusions Plasma miR-122 and miR-21 had strong correlation with degree fibrosis in HCV genotype-4 patients; consequently they can be considered as potential biomarker for early detection of hepatic fibrosis. Moreover, miR-21 can be used as a potential biomarker, for early detection of HCC combined with VEGF and α-FP.

MicroRNA-215 as a Diagnostic Marker in Egyptian Patients with Hepatocellular Carcinoma

“…This is may be happened by genotypes. Demerdash et al, (2017) reported that about 90% of Egyptian patients suffering from HCV belong to genotype-4 and this differs from other countries at which HCC patients suffering from other genotypes.…”

“…The HCC incidence is rising all through the world because of a rising incidence of HBV and HCV infection, due to an increase in prevalence of non-alcoholic fatty liver disorder (Njei et al, 2015). In Egypt, HCC is the fourth common cancer and is the second reason of most cancers mortality in both sexes (Demerdash et al, 2017). The burden of HCC increased with a doubling within the occurrence rate in the past 10 years and this was attributed to excessive occurrence of HCV.…”

“…As for the relationship among miRNAs and HCC, several research have proven that the atypical miRNAs expression can be found in plasma and serum of HCC patients or HCC cells and tissues, and miRNAs have proven great promise as prognostic and diagnostic markers for HCC (Morishita and Masaki, 2015;Qi et al, 2013;Demerdash et al, 2017).…”

Oxidative stress, immunological and cellular hypoxia biomarkers in hepatitis C treatment-naïve and cirrhotic patients

“…Hypoxia-induced vascular endothelial growth factors (VEGF) and their counteracting soluble receptors (sVEGFRs) are major pathophysiological players. Their inducibility is orchestrated by the transcription regulator, the hypoxia-inducible factor-1α (HIF-1α) [17][18][19][20]. HCV infections promote oxidative stress, while downregulating VEGF mRNA expression very early after infection that rebounds in the long term [9].…”

“…The marked variability in VEGF and sVEGFR concentrations in HCV-induced hepatic disease makes them weak indicators for the progression of chronic liver disease in cirrhotic patients. However, they may reflect the increases in portal hypertension and/or the decreases in hepatic regenerative activity [18][19][20][21]. Moreover, the interaction between the virus and the immune system response is a critical pathogenic mechanism.…”