Title:Serum miR-29a and miR-122 as Potential Biomarkers for Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease (NAFLD)
Volume: 7
Issue: 3
Author(s): Kanisa Jampoka, Puth Muangpaisarn, Kritsada Khongnomnan, Sombat Treeprasertsuk, Pisit Tangkijvanich and Sunchai Payungporn*
Affiliation:
- Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Medicine, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok 10330,Thailand
Keywords:
Biomarkers, microRNA, miR-122, miR-29a, Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease (NAFLD), nucleus.
Abstract: Background: Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease (NAFLD) is an over accumulation of triglyceride
in the liver without alcohol consumption. Its major cause is insulin resistance. Patients with
NAFLD can develop liver fibrosis, cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). MicroRNAs (miRNAs)
are non-coding RNAs that regulate post-transcriptional gene silencing. Previous research reported
that miR-29 family (a, b and c) and miR-122 have an important role in regulating insulin resistance
related to NAFLD.
Objective: The purpose of this study was to investigate that miR-29 and miR-122 can be possible biomarkers
for non-invasive diagnosis of NAFLD.
Method: Serum samples were collected from 58 NAFLD patients and 34 healthy controls. MiRNAs
were extracted from serum by using microRNA purification kit followed by polyuridylation, reverse
transcription and quantitative real-time PCR. Also, we analyzed the correlation between miR-29 and
miR-122 and level of liver inflammation in NAFLD patients.
Results: We found that the serum miR-29a levels in NAFLD patients were significantly lower (P =
0.006) than the control group, while miR-29c levels were unchanged, and miR-29b levels were undetectable.
However, we found that serum miR-122 levels in NAFLD patients were significantly higher
(P < 0.001) than those found in the control group. For miR-29a, the area under curve (AUC) was
0.679 (P = 0.0065) with 60.87% sensitivity and 82.35% specificity. For miR-122, the AUC was 0.831
(P < 0.0001) with 75.00% sensitivity and 82.35% specificity. Interestingly, the levels of serum miR-
122 were significantly different between patients without steatohepatitis (NAS < 4) and steatohepatitis
(NAS ≥ 4), indicating that the levels of miR-122 were related to the severity of NAFLD.
Conclusion: The levels of miR-29a and miR-122 might be beneficial and compelling as possible biomarkers
for non-invasive diagnosis of NAFLD.
