Methylation of suppressor of cytokine signalling 1 gene promoter is associated with acute-on-chronic hepatitis B liver failure

A Clinical Predictive Model Based on SOCS3 Promoter Methylation to Predict the Prognosis of Acute-on-Chronic Hepatitis B Liver Failure

PURPOSE

The study aimed to quantitatively detect the suppressors of cytokine signaling (SOCS) 3 promoter methylation levels, investigate the relationship between SOCS3 methylation and gene expression, and construct a prognosis prediction model combined with clinical indicators for Acute-on-chronic Hepatitis B Liver Failure (ACHBLF).

METHODS

A total of 135 ACHBLF patients were enrolled and randomly divided into the training cohort and validation cohort. The SOCS3 mRNA and promoter methylation in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) of ACHBLF patients were quantitative measured. A clinical prediction model was established based on SOCS3 promoter methylation and clinical indicators. The prediction model was evaluated by the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve, the Hosmer-Lemeshow (H-L) goodness-of-fit test, and decision curve analysis.

RESULTS

In this study, compared with ACHBLF survivals, SOCS3 showed lower mRNA levels and higher methylation levels in ACHBLF non-survivals. The SOCS3 methylation rates were negatively correlated with SOCS3 mRNA levels. PT-INR, IL-6, and percentage of the methylation reference (PMR) value (SOCS3) were used to establish a clinical model for predicting ACHBLF patients' prognosis. The results of AUC, the Hosmer-Lemeshow (H-L) goodness-of-fit test and decision curve analysis (DCA) showed that the prediction model had good clinical applicability. The prediction model was visualized.

CONCLUSION

A prognosis prediction model for ACHBLF was developed based on PMR (SOCS3), PT-INR and IL-6, which may have a good potential clinical application value.

Integrated Analysis of Long Noncoding RNA Expression Profiles in Acute-on-Chronic Liver Failure

People infected with chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) might progress to acute-on-chronic liver failure (ACLF) with a high fatality rate. Long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) are involved in human diseases, but it is unknown whether lncRNAs are involved in the progression of chronic HBV infection to ACLF. Hence, this study is aimed at systemically identifying and characterizing the landscape and the molecular mechanism of lncRNAs in the pathogenesis of chronic HBV infection progress to ACLF. RNA sequencing (RNA-Seq) of peripheral blood samples from 5 ACLF and 5 HBV infection patients was performed. We detected 9733 lncRNAs, including 406 annotated lncRNAs and 9327 novel lncRNAs. A total of 407 lncRNAs were found to be significantly dysregulated in the patients with ACLF as compared with those in the chronic HBV infection patients. The flanking protein-coding genes of differentially expressed lncRNAs were enriched with pathways that might contribute to the pathogenesis of ACLF, such as the WNT signaling pathway. Furthermore, 9 selected differentially expressed lncRNAs validated by the qRT-PCR, showing that the expression patterns of these 9 lncRNAs were consistent with the RNA-Seq data. Four selected differentially expressed lncRNAs were also validated in another patient cohort comprising 80 patients with ACLF and 65 patients with chronic HBV infection. Aberrant lncRNAs might be used to develop novel diagnostic biomarkers or drug targets for ACLF.

Suppressor of cytokine signaling proteins 1 and 3 and hepatitis B virus infection

Suppressor of cytokine signaling proteins (SOCS) are cytokine pathway inhibitors that play an important role in regulating the antiviral effect of interferon (IFN). Current studies have shown that SOCS1 and SOCS3 are closely related to hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection. Inhibition or stimulation of SOCS1 and SOCS3 expression may affect the antiviral effect by regulating the production of IFN, and may also affect the pathogenicity of HBV together with other cytokines or transcription regulators. This paper mainly discusses the possible mechanisms of SOCS1 and SOCS3 in HBV infection.

Complement System as a Target for Therapies to Control Liver Regeneration/Damage in Acute Liver Failure Induced by Viral Hepatitis

The complement system plays an important role in innate immunity inducing liver diseases as well as signaling immune cell activation in local inflammation regulating immunomodulatory effects such as liver damage and/or liver regeneration. Our aim is to evaluate the role of complement components in acute liver failure (ALF) caused by viral hepatitis, involving virus-induced ALF in human subjects using peripheral blood, samples of liver tissues, and ex vivo assays. Our findings displayed low levels of C3a in plasma samples with high frequency of C3a, C5a, and C5b/9 deposition in liver parenchyma. Meanwhile, laboratory assays using HepG2 (hepatocyte cell line) showed susceptibility to plasma samples from ALF patients impairing in vitro cell proliferation and an increase in apoptotic events submitting plasma samples to heat inactivation. In summary, our data suggest that the complement system may be involved in liver dysfunction in viral-induced acute liver failure cases using ex vivo assays. In extension to our findings, we provide insights into future studies using animal models for viral-induced ALF, as well as other associated soluble components, which need further investigation.

Hypermethylation of the galectin-3 promoter is associated with poor prognosis of acute-on-chronic hepatitis B liver failure

BACKGROUND AND AIMS

The possible role of galectin-3 in acute-on-chronic hepatitis B liver failure (ACHBLF) remains unknown. This study aimed to determine the methylation status of the galectin-3 promoter in patients with ACHBLF and analyze its prognostic value.

METHODS

The methylation status of the galectin-3 promoter in patients with ACHBLF, chronic hepatitis B (CHB) and healthy controls (HCs) was determined by methylation-specific polymerase chain reaction (MSP). The galectin-3 mRNA level in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) was detected using real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR).

RESULTS

The methylation frequency of the galectin-3 promoter was significantly higher while galectin-3 mRNA was lower in ACHBLF than in CHB and HCs. Galectin-3 promoter methylation was negatively correlated with the mRNA level in ACHBLF. In addition, ACHBLF patients carrying the methylated promoter showed shorter survival time, higher 3-month mortality, and higher model for end-stage liver disease (MELD) score when compared to ACHBLF patients carrying the unmethylated promoter. Moreover, promoter methylation was a better predictor of 3-week mortality than the MELD score in ACHBLF patients.

CONCLUSION

Our results suggest that hypermethylation of the galectin-3 promoter might be an early biomarker for predicting disease severity and prognosis in patients with ACHBLF.