iScience (Aug 2023)

Circulating microRNAs improve bacterial infection diagnosis and overall survival prediction in acute decompensation of liver cirrhosis

  • Yasmina Chouik,
  • Fanny Lebossé,
  • Marie-Laure Plissonnier,
  • Jean-Christophe Lega,
  • Pierre Pradat,
  • Teresa Antonini,
  • Miroslava Subic,
  • Kerstin Hartig-Lavie,
  • Domitille Erard,
  • François Villeret,
  • Céline Guichon,
  • Audrey Payancé,
  • Sylvie Radenne,
  • Pierre-Emmanuel Rautou,
  • Fabien Zoulim,
  • Massimo Levrero

Journal volume & issue
Vol. 26, no. 8
p. 107427

Abstract

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Summary: Bacterial infections are the most frequent precipitating event in patients with acute decompensation of cirrhosis (AD) and are associated with high mortality. Early diagnosis is challenging due to cirrhosis-related systemic inflammation. Here we investigated the potential of circulating microRNAs to diagnose bacterial infections and predict survival in cirrhotic patients with AD. High throughput profiling of circulating microRNAs was performed using the Nanostring technology in 57 AD patients and 24 patients with compensated cirrhosis (CC). Circulating miRs profiling showed that: (a) miRs differentially detected in AD vs. CC were mostly down-regulated; (b) a composite score including absolute neutrophil count, C reactive protein and miR-362-3p could diagnose bacterial infection with an excellent performance (AUC of 0.825 [95% CI = 0.671–0.980; p < 0.001]); (c) a composite score including miR-382-5p, miR-592 and MELD-Na improved 6-month survival prediction. Circulating miRs are strongly dysregulated in patients with AD and may help to improve bacterial infection diagnosis and survival prediction.

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