Serum miR-17 levels in patients with hepatitis B virus induced liver fibrosis

F. Gao, K. Li, Y. Li, G.-Q. Ding, X.-L. Lu, H. Wang, X.-Y. Liang, J. Wang, Y.-Y. Meng, L. Zhang, Y.-L. Zeng

Department of Infectious Disease, Henan Provincial People’s Hospital, (People’s Hospital of Zhengzhou University), Zhengzhou, China. zyldd1212@126.com

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• Gastroenterology

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the clinical significance of detecting serum level of miR-17 in patients with hepatitis B virus (HBV) induced liver fibrosis.

PATIENTS AND METHODS: A total of 200 HBV patients undergoing liver biopsy in Henan Provincial People’s Hospital from June 2016 to December 2018, and 200 healthy subjects during the same period were included. Serum miR-17 level was detected by qRT-PCR. Multivariate Logistic regression analysis was conducted to evaluate independent risk factors of liver fibrosis in HBV patients. Meanwhile, ROC curves were used to assess the value of miR-17 in determining liver fibrosis severity of HBV patients.

RESULTS: 200 HBV patients were classified into 4 groups based on the severity of liver fibrosis, including 52 cases in S0-1, 47 cases in S2, 53 cases in S3, and 48 cases in S4. Serum level of miR-17 was lower in healthy subjects than that in HBV patients. In addition, the serum level of miR-17 was negatively correlated with liver fibrosis severity. The relative levels of aspartate aminotransferase (AST), HBV-DNA, albumin (ALB), platelets (PLT), aspartate aminotransferase-to-platelet ratio index (APRI) and miR-17 were the independent factors of advanced liver fibrosis in HBV patients. Serum level of miR-17 exerted a predictive potential in diagnosis of the severity of HBV-induced liver fibrosis.

CONCLUSIONS: Serum miR-17 level is highly expressed in HBV patients, and negatively correlated with liver fibrosis severity, which could be utilized as a non-invasive hallmark assessing liver fibrosis severity in HBV patients.

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