Expression of serum EBV-miR-BART13-3p and its diagnostic value in patients with chronic hepatitis B liver fibrosis in Qinghai, China

Objective To investigate the difference in the expression of serum EBV-miR-BART13-3 p between chronic hepatitis B ( CHB) patients with different liver fibrosis stages in Qinghai, China and the value of serum EBV-miR-BART13-3 p in the diagnosis of CHB liver fibrosis. Methods A total of 100 patients with CHB liver fibrosis who were admitted to Department of Gastroenterology, Qinghai Provincial People's Hospital, from July 2015 to March 2017 were enrolled, and according to fibrosis stage ( F0-F4) determined by liver transient elastography ( FibroTouch) , they were divided into F0-F2 group with 36 patients, F2-F4 group with 44 patients, and liver cirrhosis group with 20 patients. A total of 20 normal individuals who underwent physical examination were enrolled as control group. Real-time PCR was used to measure serum EBV-miR-BART13-3 p, and the expression of serum EBV-miR-BART13-3 p was compared between groups. A one-way ANOVA was used for comparison of continuous data between multiple groups, and the least significant difference t-test was used for further comparison between two groups; the chi-square test was used for comparison of categorical data between groups. A bivariate correlation analysis was used to investigate the correlation between serum EBV-miR-BART13-3 p and liver stiffness measurement ( LSM) , and the receiver operating characteristic ( ROC) curve was used to investigate the value of serum EBV-miR-BART13-3 p and liver fibrosis indices [procollagen type Ⅲ ( PCⅢ) and hyaluronic acid ( HA) ] in the diagnosis of CHB liver fibrosis.Results The F0-F2 group, the F2-F4 group, and the liver cirrhosis group had significantly higher expression of serum EBV-miR-BART13-3 p than the control group ( 8. 91 ± 2. 33/14. 89 ± 4. 24/36. 56 ± 4. 24 vs 1. 01 ± 0. 57, F = 219. 42, P < 0. 001) . Serum EBV-miR-BART13-3 p had an area under the ROC curve ( AUC) of 0. 970, a sensitivity of 96. 9%, and a specificity of 88. 9% at the cut-off value of 10. 10; PⅢ had an AUC of 0. 632, a sensitivity of 31. 3%, and a specificity of 100% at the cut-off value of 47. 58 ng/ml; HA had an AUC of 0. 670, a sensitivity of 81. 3%, and a specificity of 55. 6% at the cut-off value of 85. 52 ng/ml. Serum EBV-miR-BART13-3 p was positively correlated with LSM ( r = 0. 797, P < 0. 001) . For the patients with the same stage of CHB liver fibrosis, there was no significant difference in the expression of serum EBV-miR-BART13-3 p between the patients in different ethnic groups or living at different altitudes in Qinghai ( all P > 0. 05) . Conclusion The expression of serum EBV-miR-BART13-3 p is gradually increasing with the progression of CHB liver fibrosis in Qinghai. Serum EBV-miR-BART13-3 p has a high value in the diagnosis of CHB liver fibrosis.Ethnic background and altitude have no marked influence on the expression of serum EBV-miR-BART13-3 p.