Of the 13 miRNAs, two, labeled miR-99a-5p and miR-100-5p, which belong to the same family of miRNAs, were found to be significantly upregulated in patients with HIV and HCV coinfections that later progressed to liver cirrhosis “even those these patients exhibited no liver fibrosis at the time of sampling,” he said
The two culprit miRNAs were significantly correlated with ALT and AST levels, as well as the degree of liver fibrosis.
A comparison of samples from patients with HIV monoinfection who had elevated ALT or focal nodular hyperplasia with those of patients with HIV infection but normal ALT levels showed that two other miRNAs, miR-122-3p and miR-193b-5p, were highly and significantly upregulated, and correlated with both aminotransferase and liver fibrosis levels.
“This study demonstrates the potential of microRNAs as biomarkers of liver injury progression in HIV-1 infected patients,” Dr. Martinez concluded.
The Spanish Instituto de Salud Carlos III and the Spanish AIDS network funded the study. Dr. Martinez reported having no conflicts of interest.
SOURCE: Martinez MA et al. CROI 2018, abstract 639.