Molecular study on Micro RNAs 122 and 221 as biomarkers for hepatocellular carcinoma and hepatitis C virus

Abstract

epatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a worldwide common death problem. It is considered as the second most common cause of cancer-associated fatalities. Incidence of HCC is rapidly growing in the West because of the epidemic increases of its risk factors like alcohol, fatty liver and viral hepatitis. MicroRNAs (MiRs) are small non-coding RNA segments of nearly 22 nucleotides, controlling gene expression. A single miR regulates multiple genes, therefore a small change in miR expression may effect the expression of hundreds of target genes. In order to improve the diagnosis of early stage of HCC and to discriminate between Hepatitis C Virus (HCV) and HCC stages, the present study aimed at evaluating the expression level of miR-122, miR-221 and cyclin G1 as well as their combination in HCV and HCC patients in order to evaluate whether they could be used as sensitive biomarkers for HCC development and its different stages as surrogate biomarkers for α- fetoprotein (AFP). The study included 28 HCV infected patients and 36 HCC patients, further subdivided into stage I HCC patients (n=10), stage II HCC patients (n=14) and stage III HCC patients (n=12). In addition, normal healthy individuals (n=13) were recruited into the study. MiR-122, miR-221 and cyclin G1 gene expression levels were determined by quantitative real time polymerase chain reaction analysis. Serum AFP level was determined using ELISA. The obtained results are summarized as follows: