The Egyptian Journal of Internal Medicine (Jan 2019)

Serum microRNA 143 as a potential biomarker for the diagnosis of hepatitis C virus-related hepatocellular carcinoma

  • Ahmed M El-Gohary,
  • Ahmed E Zeid,
  • Mohamed E Ibrahim,
  • Fatma I Dewedar,
  • Essam A Elzoheiry

DOI
https://doi.org/10.4103/ejim.ejim_82_18
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 31, no. 2
pp. 214 – 221

Abstract

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Background Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the fifth most frequently diagnosed cancer worldwide. Early recognition of the onset of HCC would help to select more effective therapies for patients leading to a better prognosis and life span. So, the development of effective markers for the diagnosis of HCC could have an impact on HCC-related cancer mortality. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are reported as a group of small noncoding RNAs that can function as endogenous RNA interference to regulate the expression of targeted genes. Aim To study serum miR-143 expression level in patients with hepatitis C virus (HCV)-related HCC. Patients and methods The present study was conducted on 60 participants classified into group A: 30 patients with HCV-related cirrhosis with HCC; group B: 15 patients with HCV-related cirrhosis without HCC; and group C: healthy participants as control. Expression of miR-143 in the serum of all participants was obtained in all groups. Total serum RNA was extracted with small RNA enrichment followed by reverse transcription real-time PCR. Expression of miR-143 in the serum of all participants was obtained using the comparative cycle threshold method (2–ΔΔCT) after normalization for the expression of Syn-cel-miR-39 mi script miRNA mimic as control. MiR-143 expression levels were then compared in different groups. Results The mean serum miR-143 levels were significantly higher in cirrhotic patients without and with HCC than in healthy participants (1.69±0.64, 13.0±6.23 vs. 0.56±0.29, P˂0.001, respectively) and in patients with HCC than in patients without HCC (P<0.001). The mean serum miR-143 levels were significantly higher in cirrhotic patients with HCC Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer stage D than stage B (19.91±2.40, 13.41±1.80, P˂0.001, respectively) and in stage B compared with stage A (13.41±1.80, 5.68±1.86, P<0.001, respectively). Conclusion The significantly higher serum level of miR-143 in cirrhotic patients with HCC compared with those without and to normal participants may suggest its role in hepatocarcinogenesis and may have a value as a potential biomarker for early diagnosis of HCV- related HCC.

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