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Study shows microRNAs as heritable traits, biomarkers for NAFLD

In a new twin study, researchers found that certain serum microRNAs explained the discordancy of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease between twins, and indicated they could be used as biomarkers for the disease, according to newly published data in Gut.

“Although certain [microRNAs] are associated with NAFLD, their role in the causality of the disease is unknown,” the researchers wrote. “This twin cohort study identifies potential [microRNAs] that are likely to be important for causality and attempts to deduce their functional role.”

Rohit Loomba

Researchers, including Rohit Loomba, MD, MHSc, of the division of gastroenterology and epidemiology, University of California at San Diego, analyzed data from 40 twin-pairs of patients residing in Southern California; six were concordant for NAFLD, 28 were concordant for non-NAFLD and six were discordant for NAFLD. Twenty-nine pairs of twins were monozygotic and 11 were dizygotic. Each patient underwent various testing to investigate serum microRNAs (miRs) and NAFLD, including a liver MRI and miR serum profiling.

Overall, NAFLD prevalence was 22.5% (18/80) in the study cohort. There were 818 miRs identified through analysis, of which 203 were found in over 30% of the patients.

Of the six discordant twins, 10 miRs separated the twin with NAFLD from the one without NAFLD. MiR-331-3p and miR-30c were among the 10 miRs, as well as among 21 miRs that were different between NAFLD and non-NAFLD groups (for miR-331-3p: 7.644 ± 0.091 vs. 8.057 ± 0.071, P = .004; for miR-30c: 10.013 ± 0.126 vs. 10.418 ± 0.086, P = .008), respectively, according to the research.

MiR-331-3p and miR-30c were heritable (35.9% and 10.7%, respectively) and highly associated with each other (R = 0.9, P = 2.2 × 10^–16). In addition, an interactome analysis of these miRs revealed seven common target genes. These observations indicated these miRs could be involved in a common mechanistic pathway.

“MiR-331-3p and miR-30c not only explained NAFLD discordancy between twins, but also were significantly different between participants with and without NAFLD,” the researchers concluded. “In addition, we showed that the serum levels of these miRs, as well as others, are heritable traits. Hence, miRs can be used as biomarkers for invasive assessment, or even therapeutic targets, of NAFLD.” – by Melinda Stevens

Disclosure: The researchers report no relevant financial disclosures.