Table 2.
Circulating microRNAs in liver disease
| miRNAs | Sample | Clinical condition | Clinical relevance | Reference |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| miR-122 | Serum | High levels in patients with HCC or chronic hepatitis; lower levels in severe stages of fibrosis | Biomarker for liver injury but not specific for HCC; indicator of fibrosis progression in CHC infection; marker to distinguish patients with CHC from healthy controls | 74,76,77, 144,145 |
| miR-21 | Serum/plasma | High levels in patients with HCC or chronic hepatitis; higher levels in patients with HCC than in those with chronic hepatitis or healthy volunteers | Biomarker for liver injury but not specific for HCC; biochemical marker for HCC | 73–75,146 |
| miR-223 | Serum | High levels in patients with HCC or chronic hepatitis | Biomarkers for liver injury but not specifically for HCC | 73 |
| miR-885-5p | Serum | High levels in patients with HCC, LC, or CHB | Complementary biomarker for detection and assessment of liver pathologies | 147 |
| miR-16 miR-34a |
Serum | Higher levels in patients with NAFLD than in controls | Correlation with liver enzymes levels, fibrosis stage, and inflammation activity; biomarkers of diagnosis and histological disease severity in patients with CHC or NAFLD | 74 |
| miR-221 | Serum | High levels correlated with tumor size, cirrhosis, and tumor stage | Predictive significance for prognosis of patients with HCC | 146 |
| miR-15b miR-130b |
Serum | Higher levels in tumors during the exploration phase on resected tumor/adjacent and nontumor tissues; lower levels after surgery | Biomarker with clinical value for HCC screening | 148 |
| miR-20a miR-92a |
Plasma/serum | High levels in HCV-infected patients with fibrosis compared with healthy volunteers or liver disease not associated with HCV; higher levels in acute and chronic HCV-infected patients as compared with healthy volunteers | Biomarkers for early detection of HCV infection; miR-20a is a predictive biomarker of HCV-mediated fibrosis | 149 |
Abbreviations: HCC, hepatocellular carcinoma; CHC, chronic hepatitis C; CHB, chronic hepatitis B; LC, liver cirrhosis; NAFLD, nonalcoholic fatty liver disease; HCV, hepatitis C virus; miRNAs, microRNAs.