miRNA-155-5p, miRNA-181a-5p, and miRNA-122-5p as prognostic biomarkers of clinical graft evolution in liver transplant patients

Abstract

Liver transplanted patients receive strong immunosuppressive drugs with the aim of preventing allograft rejection. Although nowadays new drugs and surgical techniques and technologies are being used, the diagnose of allograft rejection is still a concern. This is due to the conventional biomarkers that are used in order to diagnose allograft rejection. Their values are often abnormal, or they are not able to discriminate this disease from others, and thus it is needed to perform a biopsy which is related with complications. It is though needed new sensitive and specific biomarkers for screening and monitoring liver transplanted patients. miRNAs are a subtype of noncoding RNAs which have been studied the past decades and appear to be biomarkers related with several diseases. In this study, we are going to evaluate different miRNAs (miRNA-155-5p, miRNA-181a-5p and miRNA-122-5p), in order to predict allograft rejection. Their analysis will be performed via quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction, and we will obtain their expression in plasma. Rejector patients will be compared to non-rejector patients through statistical treatment of the miRNAs expression.