Circulating miR-625 as an Emerging Biomarker for Liver Cirrhosis

BACKGROUND: Sensitive and specific diagnostic indicators are essential for liver cirrhosis. This study aims to analyze two plasma microRNAs (miR-625 and miR-920) as possible biomarkers for liver cirrhosis. METHODS: miR-625 and miR-920 expressions were analyzed in the plasma of 40 patients with liver cirrhosis and 41 healthy controls. Plasma levels of miR-625 and miR-920 were assessed by qRT-PCR. Analysis of the results was performed by the Mann-Whitney U-test. Spearman's test was used to show correlations between the miR-625 and clinical parameters. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis was performed to assess sensitivity and specificity. RESULTS: miR-625 is downregulated in patients with liver cirrhosis. Expression of miR-625 correlated with alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and aspartate aminotransferase (AST) levels. ROC curve analysis revealed that miR-625 had a sensitivity of 82.4% and specificity of 88.9% (area under the curve (AUC): 0.902) which indicated a high diagnostic power for cirrhosis. CONCLUSIONS: This study demonstrates for the first time that, miR-625 may be considered as a potential noninvasive biomarker for diagnosis of liver cirrhosis in patients, irrespective of etiology.