Expression profile of microRNAs in patients with decompensated cirrhosis by small RNA deep sequencing

Introduction and objective: Decompensated cirrhosis (DCC) is a more advanced stage of liver cirrhosis (LC). It is important to identify biomarkers to predict DCC progression. The aim of this study was to analyze microRNA (miRNA) profiles of whole blood involved in the DCC process to gain a better understanding of the molecular mechanisms underlying its development. Materials and methods: RNA-Seq analysis of blood samples from a discovery set, including four DCC patients and four LC individuals, was performed to identify differentially expressed miRNAs. The selected differentially expressed miRNAs were validated by using an independent validation set. Results: In this study, a total of 1,036 miRNAs were identified in whole blood samples. Forty differentially expressed miRNAs were identified, including 24 upregulated and 16 downregulated miRNAs. The expression levels of three upregulated miRNAs (hsa-miR-20b-5p, hsa-miR-421, and hsa-miR-1307-3p) and two downregulated miRNAs (hsa-miR-139-5p and hsa-miR-150-5p) were validated by quantitative reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction. The receiver operator characteristic curve for the logistic regression model based on hsa-miR-20b-5p, hsa-miR-421, and hsa-miR-150-5p could distinguish DCC patients with excellent diagnostic accuracy (area under the curve: 0.981, p < 0.01). Conclusion: The miRNA expression profiles in patients with DCC and LC controls suggested that miR-20b-5p, miR-421, and miR-150-5p could be potential biomarkers and therapeutic targets for this condition.