GSE162149
Identification of miRNAs that regulate hepatitis B virus replication and are potential biomarkers for therapeutic outcome
Background: Chronic hepatitis B (CHB) infection is a serious health problem worldwide and with the current treatment a functional cure is only achieved in 3-15% of the patients. Therefore it is important to investigate novel biomarkers for treatment outcome and to develop new treatment options for CHB. miRNAs are small, non-coding RNA molecules that are involved in various cellular processes by regulating gene expression at the posttranscriptional level and also play an important role in a variety of infectious diseases. In this study we want to identify novel miRNAs that are involved in hepatitis B replication and could therefore be used as biomarkers and targeted as a potential new therapeutic option. Methods: miRNA/small RNA NGS was performed on total RNA isolated from 10 matching plasma and liver biopsy of an identification cohort of CHB patients and 10 plasma and liver controls. Results: We identified 23 and 18 miRNAs that were differentially expressed between controls and CHB patients in plasma and liver respectively, of which five were differentially expressed in both liver and plasma. Of these candidate miRNAs 3 were upregulated in liver and 12 in plasma from CHB and 15 were downregulated in liver and 11 in plasma. Overall design: miRNA expression profile in plasma and liver samples obtained from chronic hepatitis B infected patients.