ROC analysis revealed that hsa-miR-122-5p, hsa-miR-223 and hsa-miR-29c-3p identified patients with ≥F2 fibrosis with area under the curve (AUC) =0.745, 0.631 and 0.670, respectively. hsa-miR-122-5p identified patients with ≥F3 disease (AUC=0.783). hsa-miR-122-5p, hsa-miR-223 and hsa-miR-29c-3p identified patients with cirrhosis with AUC=0.776, 0.617 and 0.619, respectively.
These data suggested that miR-34a, miR-122, and miR-885-5p levels may be more related to the inflammatory process and ongoing hepatocyte damage in patients with cirrhosis.
Areas under the curve (AUC) were 0.675 for miR-122, 0.791 for AFP and 0.846 for PIVKA-II, while their combination improved the discrimination power between cirrhosis and HCC (AUC=0.918).
Hence, alterations in intrahepatic miRNA networks have been associated with liver disease including hepatitis, steatosis, cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). miR-122 is the most frequent miRNA in the adult liver, and a central player in liver biology and disease.