{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,19]],"date-time":"2026-09-19T14:44:47Z","timestamp":1789829087574,"version":"4.0.1"},"reference-count":33,"publisher":"Public Library of Science (PLoS)","issue":"5","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2022,5,26]],"date-time":"2022-05-26T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1653523200000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["www.plosone.org"],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["PLoS ONE"],"abstract":"<jats:p>MicroRNA-122 (miR-122) is a liver abundant microRNA that is released upon liver injury. In the present study, we investigated the circulating miR-122 profiles in a Pakistani patients\u00b4 cohort with HCV chronic liver disease that was mainly based on HCV genotype 3 infections. From 222 patients with chronic HCV liver disease, classified as mild, moderate, or severe, serum samples were collected. Cell-free RNA was isolated and used for miR-122 quantification by qPCR. More than 60% of 222 patients were infected with HCV genotype 3. ALT values and HCV viral load showed no correlation with the HCV genotype. Circulating miR-122 levels were significantly upregulated in patients with cirrhosis. Notably, HCV patients with mild cirrhosis showed the most marked increase in serum miR-122 levels (p = 0.0001). Furthermore, we proved a positive correlation (r = 0.46) of miR-122 with the ALT values in patients with mild cirrhosis. Importantly, our data of increased miR-122 levels in serum samples obtained from a patient cohort with a high prevalence of chronic genotype 3 HCV infection confirmed the previous findings collected from cohorts with a high prevalence of genotype 1. Therefore, we suggest that miR-122 increase after HCV infection does not depend on the HCV genotype. In conclusion, our findings confirm that serum miR-122 levels are significantly upregulated in the HCV cirrhotic patients serving in particular as a biomarker for the non-advanced stages of cirrhosis, independently of the HCV genotype.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pone.0268526","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2022,5,26]],"date-time":"2022-05-26T13:53:37Z","timestamp":1653573217000},"page":"e0268526","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1371\/journal.pone.corrections_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":10,"title":["Circulating microRNA-122 in HCV cirrhotic patients with high frequency of genotype 3"],"prefix":"10.1371","volume":"17","author":[{"given":"Amin","family":"Ullah","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Xiaojie","family":"Yu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Margarete","family":"Odenthal","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Sonja","family":"Meemboor","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Bashir","family":"Ahmad","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Irshad 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