Baseline Hepatic Levels of miR-29b and Claudin are Respectively Associated with the Stage of Fibrosis and HCV RNA in Hepatitis C.

ABSTRACT

We sought to determine if the baseline hepatic levels of miR-122, miR-29b, Claudin, Occludin, Protein Kinase R (PKR) or PKR activator (PRKRA) were correlated with HCV RNA or stage of fibrosis in patients with chronic hepatitis C (CHC). A total of 25 CHC patients (genotype 1) who were treatment naive at the time of sample collection enrolled in this study. By multivariate analysis, CLDN RNA was found as the single independent factor positively correlated with HCV RNA levels (p=0.003), while hepatic miR-29b levels was found as the single independent factor for predicting advanced stage of fibrosis (p=0.028). Conclusion: Our results highlight miR-29b and CLDN as novel predictors of advanced stage of liver fibrosis and baseline HCV RNA in CHC.