Analysis of association between circulating miR-122 and histopathological features of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease in patients free of hepatocellular carcinoma

BACKGROUND The association between circulating microRNA-122 (miR-122) and histopathological features of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) remains unclear. METHODS The association of serum miR-122 levels with histopathological features of NAFLD (steatosis, ballooning, lobular inflammation, and stage, as histological components of nonalcoholic steatohepatitis) was examined in serial liver biopsies from 36 hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC)-free Japanese patients with histopathologically-proven NAFLD. The median interval between first and second liver biopsies was 4.6 years. RESULTS In patients who showed improvement of histopathological scores (steatosis, ballooning, and stage), serum miR-122 levels were significantly lower at second biopsy than first biopsy. In patients who showed no improvement, the changes at second biopsy were not different from those at first biopsy. There were significant and strong associations between serum miR-122 ratio (ratio of level at second biopsy to that at first biopsy) and changes in histopathological scores (of steatosis, lobular inflammation, and stage). There were also significant and strong associations between serum miR-122 ratio and changes in other clinical parameters, including aspartate aminotransferase and alanine aminotransferase. CONCLUSIONS Longitudinal examination of serial liver biopsies showed the association of serum miR-122 with histopathological features of HCC-free NAFLD patients.