Capturing liver fibrosis signals from blood: miR-122-5p becomes a new tool for CHB disease monitoring

This study systematically explores the relationship between the expression level of miR-122-5p in serum exosomes of chronic hepatitis B (CHB) patients and liver inflammation injury and fibrosis progression, revealing its important value in disease assessment and prognosis judgment. The study finds that miR-122-5p is abnormally expressed in CHB patients and significantly downregulated in patients with severe confluent necrosis and advanced liver fibrosis, suggesting its involvement in the regulation of liver pathological processes. Multivariate analysis shows that miR-122-5p is an independent protective factor for severe confluent necrosis and advanced liver fibrosis, indicating that its expression level has independent clinical predictive ability. In addition, ROC curve analysis confirms its good diagnostic efficacy for severe confluent necrosis and advanced fibrosis (AUCs of 0.949 and 0.741), showing its potential value as a non-invasive biomarker. More importantly, after antiviral treatment, patients with baseline high expression of miR-122-5p have a significantly higher rate of liver fibrosis reversal, suggesting its predictive value for histological outcomes and providing a basis for individualized treatment. In summary, this study not only deepens the understanding of the pathogenesis of CHB liver injury but also provides a new non-invasive evaluation tool for clinical use, with significant translational medical significance.