Objective: To investigate the change in serum exosomeal miR-1290 level in patients with hepatitis B virus (HBV) related hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and its diagnostic value.
Methods:  The blood samples from 31 patients with HBV-related HCC, 20 HBV carriers, 20 patients with hepatitis B induced liver cirrhosis, and 19 subjects undergoing health maintenance examination were collected. The serum exosomes were isolated and purified and then identified. The expression levels of exosomal miR-1290 were determined by RT-PCR. The diagnostic efficacy of exosomal miR-1290 for HBV-related HCC was evaluated using the ROC curve.
Results: The purified samples contained a large number of exosomal particles with the typical characteristics of the exosomes. Compared with healthy individuals, the exosomal miR-1290 level showed no significant difference in HBV carriers (P>0.05), and was significantly elevated in patients with HBV-related HCC (P<0.001), in advanced stage HCC patients was significantly higher than in early stage HCC patients (P=0.036), but was significantly decreased in patients with hepatitis B induced liver cirrhosis (P=0.006). The area under the curve (AUC) of the ROC of exosomel miR-1290 for diagnosis of HBV-related HCC was 0.82 (95% CI=0.73 0.91), with good specificity (88.1%), and its diagnostic efficiency was higher than that of AFP (AUC=0.792).
Conclusion: Serum level of exosomal miR-1290 is increased in patients with HBV-related HCC, and it has better diagnostic efficacy for HBV-related HCC. It is hopeful to become a serological marker for the diagnosis of HBV-related HCC.