title: [Evaluation of miR-122 level in the plasma of chronically HCV infected patients].
abstract: MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are small non-coding RNA molecules, which have an important function in regulating RNA stability and gene expression. They also can circulate in a cell-free form in the blood thatmakes them potential disease markers. The liver contains various classes of miRNAs in which miR-122 accounts for about 70% of all miRNAs and it has been proved that its level increases in case of liver damage. Here, we investigated plasma levels of miR-122 as a useful disease parameter in patients with chronic hepatitis C (CHC) infection. Thirty five hemophilia and thalassemia patients with CHC were studied. The total RNA was extracted from plasma samples, and miR-122 levels were measured by qPCR and then compared with the specific liver markers. The plasma levels of alanine transaminase (ALT) and aspartate transaminase(AST) were correlated with plasma miR-122 level in CHC patients, and the level of circulating miR-122 in healthy individual groups were rarely lower than those of patients with CHC. In our study, miR-122 levels correlated well with markers of liver inflammatory activity. Plasma miR-122 can be assumed to be another marker in liver similar to the currently used specific markers such as ALT and AST for evaluation of liver damage in hepatitis C virus (HCV) infected patients. Moreover, the correlation between miR-122 and ALT was shown to be higher than between miR-122 and AST.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Virology, Faculty of Medical Sciences, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, 14115-111, Iran.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Gholami
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Virology, Faculty of Medical Sciences, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, 14115-111, Iran.|Ravanshad@modares.ac.ir.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ravanshad
authors.affiliation: Founder of Iran Hepatitis Network and Tehran Hepatitis Center, Baqiyatallah Research Center for Gastroenterology and Liver Diseases, Baqiyatallah University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, 19945-581, Iran.
authors.forename: S-M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Alavian
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Virology, Iranian Research Center for HIV AIDS (IRCHA) Iranian Institute for Reduction of High-Risk Behaviors, Tehran University of Medical Sciences (TUMS), Tehran, 14197-313, Iran.
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Baesi
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Virology, Iranian Research Center for HIV AIDS (IRCHA) Iranian Institute for Reduction of High-Risk Behaviors, Tehran University of Medical Sciences (TUMS), Tehran, 14197-313, Iran.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Moallemi
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000410:Alanine Transaminase / Q000378:metabolism; D001219:Aspartate Aminotransferases / Q000378:metabolism; D005260:Female; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation; D016174:Hepacivirus / Q000235:genetics* / Q000472:pathogenicity; D019698:Hepatitis C, Chronic / Q000097:blood* / Q000235:genetics / Q000821:virology; D006801:Humans; D008099:Liver / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology / Q000821:virology; D008297:Male; D035683:MicroRNAs / Q000097:blood*
chemical_list: C531907:MIRN122 microRNA, human; D035683:MicroRNAs; D001219:Aspartate Aminotransferases; D000410:Alanine Transaminase
keywords: ALT; AST; hepatitis C virus; liver; microRNA