Pretreatment serum microRNA-122 is not predictive for treatment response in chronic hepatitis C virus infection

BackgroundMicroRNA-122 is a liver specific microRNA and is elevated in the sera of patients with chronic hepatitis C virus infection. Hepatic microRNA-122 levels have been described to be reduced in patients with non-response to antiviral treatment with pegylated interferon-α and ribavirin.AimAssessment of differences in serum microRNA-122 levels in patients with sustained virological response and non-response.MethodsRNA was extracted from pretreatment serum samples and microRNA-122 and microRNA-16 levels were measured by quantitative PCR and compared in patients with sustained virological response and non-response.ResultsThe levels of microRNA-122 and microRNA-16 in the sera did not differ between patients with sustained virological response and non-response.ConclusionSerum microRNA-122 is not a suitable marker for treatment response prediction to combination therapy with pegylated interferon-α and ribavirin in patients with chronic hepatitis C virus infection.