miR-181b potential biomarker of replication, progression in chronic HBV

By Shreeya Nanda, Senior medwireNews Reporter

A Chinese team reports a correlation between serum levels of microRNA (miR)-181b and hepatitis B virus (HBV) replication and disease progression in patients with chronic HBV infection.

Researchers Peihong Dong and Jianjian Zheng, from The First Affiliated Hospital of Wenzhou Medical University in Zhejiang, and study co-authors say that their findings “support the development of serum miR-181b as a marker for disease progression” in this patient population.

They explain in Digestive Diseases and Sciences that miR-181b was the focus of the study “owing to its pro-fibrosis ability, as well as the earlier finding that serum levels may be a potential diagnostic biomarker for cirrhosis.”

Serum levels of miR-181b were significantly higher in the 64 chronic HBV patients than in the 72 healthy controls, at a median of 2.550 versus 0.920 (p<0.0001).

There was also a correlation with HBV DNA replication – patients positive for hepatitis B e antigen (HBeAg) had significantly elevated serum miR-181b levels compared with HBeAg-negative patients (2.905 vs 2.315; p<0.0001). As did participants with liver HBV DNA levels above compared with below the threshold of 2.282 IU/cell (3.570 vs 2.295; p<0.0001).

Moreover, multivariate analysis showed that serum miR-181b levels were significantly associated with a histological activity index over 8 (p=0.009) and a fibrosis score over 4 (p=0.001), “highlighting its potential as an independent predictor of moderate and severe [chronic hepatitis B] disease”, say the researchers.

“This may be explained by the fact that higher serum miR-181b levels are induced at higher levels of HBV DNA, which is often associated with more severe liver disease”, they add.

Highlighting the small sample size of their study, the team concludes: “Studies with larger sample sizes are warranted to validate the efficacy of this marker and determine the relationship between serum miR-181b and patient immune status.”

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