Background: Treatment response to antiviral drugs is a challenging issue in patients with
chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection. Although microRNA-122 represents the majority
of the microRNA content in hepatic tissues, few studies have evaluated its role in the
treatment response, so we aimed to study its role in chronic HCV patients and in predicting
the treatment response to direct-acting antivirals (DAAs).
Methods: The study included 125 chronic HCV patients (89 naïve and 36 with a prior failed
peginterferon/ribavirin response) and 50 apparently healthy subjects. Complete blood count,
liver function, α-fetoprotein, lipid profiles, serum creatinine, abdominal ultrasound, and
FibroScan® were assessed. Viral markers, HCV antibodies, and hepatitis B surface antigen
were measured by enzyme-linked fluorescent immunoassay, with quantitative estimation of
HCV RNA and microRNA-122 levels by real-time PCR.
Results: The microRNA-122 level in HCV patients (those with a sustained virologic
response 12 weeks after finishing therapy [SVR12] and non-responders) was significantly
increased compared with controls and expressed more in non-responders versus SVR12
(p=0.042). ROC curve analysis of microRNA-122 for differentiating HCV patients from
healthy controls revealed that a cut-off point of >1.45 had a sensitivity of 67.20%, specificity
of 94.0%, AUC=0.861, and p