Disease-specific miR-34a as diagnostic marker of non-alcoholic steatohepatitis in a Chinese population

Table 1 General and biochemical parameters of chronic hepatitis B and Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease patients

Parameters	Group
	Control (n = 37)	CHB (n = 26)	NAFLD (n = 48)
General parameters
Age (yr)	43.8 ± 1.3	40.1 ± 2.7	38.1 ± 1.8
Male n (%)	18 (48.6)	16 (61.5)	35 (72.9)
BMI (kg/m2)	21.4 ± 0.3	23.0 ± 0.61	26.9 ± 0.512
Biochemical parameters
ALT (U/L)	19.1 ± 2.4	138.2 ± 30.81	68.7 ± 7.412
GGT (U/L)	19.1 ± 1.9	83.8 ± 16.7	110.5 ± 35.9
TC (mmol/L)	4.5 ± 0.1	4.5 ± 0.2	4.9 ± 0.1
TG (mmol/L)	0.8 ± 0.1	1.7 ± 0.21	2.1 ± 0.21
HDL (mmol/L)	1.4 ± 0.0	1.1 ± 0.11	1.2 ± 0.01
LDL (mmol/L)	2.4 ± 0.1	2.5 ± 0.1	2.9 ± 0.112

Data are expressed as mean ± SEM.

¹P < 0.05 vs the control group;

²P < 0.05 vs the chronic hepatitis B (CHB) group. NAFLD: Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease; BMI: Body mass index; ALT: Alanine aminotransferase; GGT: γ-glutamyl transpeptidase; TC: Total cholesterol; TG: Triglycerides; HDL: High density lipoprotein; LDL: Low density lipoprotein.

Table 2 General and biochemical parameters of non-alcoholic fatty liver and non-alcoholic steatohepatitis patients

Parameters	Group
	Control (n = 37)	NAFL (n = 17)	NASH (n = 31)
General parameters
Age (yr)	43.8 ± 1.3	37.1 ± 3.1	38.1 ± 2.3
Male n (%)	18 (48.6)	13 (76.4)	22 (71.0)
BMI (kg/m2)	21.4 ± 0.3	26.3 ± 0.91	27.2 ± 0.61
Biochemical parameters
ALT (U/L)	19.1 ± 2.4	47.8 ± 6.21	80.2 ± 10.412
AST (U/L)	18.8 ± 1.4	30.2 ± 3.8	51.5 ± 6.012
GGT (U/L)	19.1 ± 1.9	78.2 ± 36.8	128.2 ± 51.9
PLT (× 109/L)	200.4 ± 11.3	237.0 ± 14.8	207.3 ± 9.1
TC (mmol/L)	4.5 ± 0.1	4.7 ± 0.2	5.0 ± 0.1
TG (mmol/L)	0.8 ± 0.1	1.9 ± 0.31	2.2 ± 0.31
HDL (mmol/L)	1.4 ± 0.0	1.2 ± 0.11	1.2 ± 0.11
LDL (mmol/L)	2.4 ± 0.1	2.9 ± 0.21	2.9 ± 0.11

Data are expressed as mean ± SEM.

¹P < 0.05 vs the control group;

²P < 0.05 vs the non-alcoholic fatty liver (NAFL) group. NASH: Non-alcoholic steatohepatitis; BMI: Body mass index; ALT: Alanine aminotransferase; AST: Aspartate aminotransferase; GGT: γ-glutamyl transpeptidase; PLT: Platelets; TC: Total cholesterol; TG: Triglycerides; HDL: High density lipoprotein; LDL: Low density lipoprotein.

Table 3 Correlations between miRNAs and histological features

R	miR-122	miR-125b	miR-146b	miR-16	miR-192	miR-21	miR-27b	miR-34a
Steatosis	0.3021	0.143	0.230	0.068	0.3231	0.199	0.166	0.4702
Activity	0.4452	0.052	0.218	0.267	0.4472	0.3201	0.179	0.5172
Lobular inflammation	0.2851	-0.064	0.137	0.159	0.3962	0.254	0.184	0.5522
Hepatocellular ballooning	0.4772	0.154	0.225	0.2901	0.3501	0.281	0.101	0.3171
Fibrosis	-0.021	-0.078	0.125	0.3501	0.145	0.199	-0.028	0.134

Activity is the sum of the score of lobular inflammation and hepatocellular ballooning.

¹P < 0.05,

²P < 0.01.