Abstract
BACKGROUND: To investigate the expression of serum miR-155 and miR-224 among patients with hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection and analyze their clinical values. METHODS: A total of 116 patients suffering from HCV infection admitted to our hospital and 70 healthy subjects were selected. According to the diagnostic results, patients with HCV infection were divided into 48 cases of chronic hepatitis C (CHC), 43 cases of liver cirrhosis and 25 cases of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). The expression signature for miR-155 and miR-224 was detected in serum samples. ROC curve and Pearson correlation test were conducted to investigate their diagnostic value and correlation. RESULTS: The expression extent for serum miR-155 and miR-224 increased along with the increase of malignancy (all P < 0.05). According to ROC curve, the area under the curve (0.918, 95% CI: 0.856-0.974) of miR-155 and miR-224 combined in the diagnosis of HCC was the largest, and its sensitivity and specificity were 93.0% and 86.2%. There is a positive relationship for expression level between miR-155 and miR-224 in CHC and HCC group (all P < 0.001). CONCLUSION: miR-155 and miR-224 are remarkably increased in patients suffering from HCV infection. The combination of miR-155 and miR-224 has a good diagnostic value for HCC caused by HCV infection.