miRNA expression signatures in chronic hepatitis B (CHB) treated with nucleos(t)ide analogues (NA)

Hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection is one of the major causes of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Nucleos(t)ide analogue (NA) therapy is effective to reduce the HCC incidence, while it doesn’t completely prevent HCC. In this study, we explored the involvement of microRNA (miRNA) in the post-NA treatment HCC development. Chronic hepatitis B (CHB) patients who received NA treatment (n = 18) were divided into 2 groups: those who didn’t develop HCC during the follow-up period (non-HCC group) and those who developed HCC after treatment (HCC group). Liver specimens were obtained before and after NA therapy, and HCC tissues were also obtained from the HCC group patients. Normal liver tissues were also obtained from 4 liver hemangioma patients who underwent surgical resection. miRNA expression was analyzed using Agilent miRNA microarray V3. Total RNA was extracted from fresh frozen CHB or HCC specimens obtained from biopsy or surgical resections. Expression of 851 miRNAs was analyzed using Human miRNA Microarray V3 (Rel 12.0 G4470C; Agilent technologies, Santa Clara, CA, USA).