Interplay between TGF-b1 and miRNA-122 biomarkers in hepatocellular carcinoma progression in patients with chronic hepatitis C.

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a highly lethal malignancy and clinically validated medications have not yet been developed since there are no reliable diagnostic and prognostic biomarkers. Based on bioinformatics tools, TGF-b1 gene was the first target gene of miRNA-122, therefore this study was intended to assess the potential interconnection between TGF-b1 and miRNA-122 as a diagnostic and prognostic biomarker in the progression of HCC in patients with chronic hepatitis C (CHC) genotype (4). In this study, 100 people were included and split into two groups; group I: CHC patients without HCC that were classified into patients CHC without cirrhosis and CHC cirrhotic patients, group II: CHC patients with HCC, and healthy volunteers as control. The expression of miRNA-122 and TGF-b1 genes were analyzed using Real-Time PCR. An upregulation of miRNA-122 gene in cirrhotic and HCC patients compared to both chronic HCV non-cirrhotic, and cirrhotic patients, while, a decrease in expression of TGF-b1 was found in cirrhotic patients compared to HCV non-cirrhotic patients. Although significantly downregulated in HCC patients. Regression analysis indicated that the expression levels of miRNA-122 and TGF-b1 could be regarded as important indicators of the alterations in cirrhotic and HCC patients versus HCV non-cirrhotic patients, also with the chances of HCC versus cirrhosis patients. Our data indicated an interaction between miRNA-122 and TGF-b1, regulated gene expression and recommended the use of these parameters as noninvasive predictive biomarkers and therapeutic targets for HCV induced liver cirrhosis and HCC.