PLoS ONE (Jan 2022)

Serum miR-192-5p levels predict the efficacy of pegylated interferon therapy for chronic hepatitis B

  • Yoshihito Nagura,
  • Kentaro Matsuura,
  • Etsuko Iio,
  • Koji Fujita,
  • Takako Inoue,
  • Akihiro Matsumoto,
  • Eiji Tanaka,
  • Shuhei Nishiguchi,
  • Jong-Hon Kang,
  • Takeshi Matsui,
  • Masaru Enomoto,
  • Hiroki Ikeda,
  • Tsunamasa Watanabe,
  • Chiaki Okuse,
  • Masataka Tsuge,
  • Masanori Atsukawa,
  • Masakuni Tateyama,
  • Hiromi Kataoka,
  • Yasuhito Tanaka

Journal volume & issue
Vol. 17, no. 2

Abstract

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We examined the association between serum miRNA (-192-5p, -122-3p, -320a and -6126-5p) levels and the efficacy of pegylated interferon (Peg-IFN) monotherapy for chronic hepatitis B (CHB) patients. We enrolled 61 CHB patients treated with Peg-IFNα-2a weekly for 48 weeks, of whom 12 had a virological response (VR) and 49 did not VR (non-VR). A VR was defined as HBV DNA < 2,000 IU/ml, hepatitis B e antigen (HBeAg)-negative, and nucleos(t)ide analogue free at 48 weeks after the end of treatment. The non-VR group showed a significantly higher HBeAg-positivity rate, ALT, HBV DNA, and serum miR-192-5p levels at baseline (P = 0.024, P = 0.020, P = 0.007, P = 0.021, respectively). Serum miR-192-5p levels at 24-weeks after the start of treatment were also significantly higher in the non-VR than the VR group (P = 0.011). Multivariate logistic regression analysis for predicting VR showed that miR-192-5p level at baseline was an independent factor (Odds 4.5, P = 0.041). Serum miR-192-5p levels were significantly correlated with the levels of HBV DNA, hepatitis B core-related antigen, and hepatitis B surface antigen (r = 0.484, 0.384 and 0.759, respectively). The serum miR-192-5p level was useful as a biomarker for the therapeutic efficacy of Peg-IFN in CHB treatment.