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. 2022 Jun 22:15:1935-1943.
doi: 10.2147/DMSO.S365147. eCollection 2022.

Pro-Neurotensin as a Potential Novel Diagnostic Biomarker for Detection of Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease

Amal A Mohamed  1 , Dina M Abo-Elmatty  2 , Omnia Ezzat  3 , Noha M Mesbah  2 , Nada S Ali  3 , Aliaa Sayed Abd El Fatah  4 , Eman Alsayed  5 , Mahmoud Hamada  6 , Alshymaa A Hassnine  7 , Sherief Abd-Elsalam  8 , Ahmed Abdelghani  9 , Mohamed Badr Hassan  9 , Shaimaa A Fattah  2
Affiliations

Pro-Neurotensin as a Potential Novel Diagnostic Biomarker for Detection of Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease

Amal A Mohamed et al. Diabetes Metab Syndr Obes. .

Abstract

Background and aims: Currently, liver biopsy is the gold standard method for diagnosis of non-alcoholic fatty liver severity. It is critical to develop non-invasive diagnostic method to diagnose nonalcoholic fatty liver rather than invasive techniques. Our case-control study was to address the value of circulating miRNA-122 and serum pro-neurotensin as a potential non-invasive biomarker for the diagnosis of non-alcoholic fatty acid diseases.

Methods: Clinical assessment, laboratory investigations, and anthropometric measurements were reported for 157 patients with proven NAFLD. Apparently, healthy participants (n=100) were enrolled as a control group. Serum samples were tested for micro-RNAs-122 and pro-neurotensin.

Results: Compared with the control subjects, both mi-RNA-122 and serum proneurotensin levels were increased in NAFLD (p<0.001) and at a cut-off ≥6.83, mi-RNA-122 had 51.0% sensitivity, 70.0% specificity to differentiate NAFLD from healthy controls, while serum proneurotensin had 80.0% sensitivity and 80.0% specificity at a cutoff ≥108.

Conclusion: The circulating pro-neurotensin might be used as a novel biomarker for diagnosis of patients with NAFLD, wherefore the integration of a circulating mi-RNA-122 and serum pro-neurotensin could be beneficial to diagnose NAFLD cases. Large-scale studies are needed to investigate the possible role of mi-RNA-122 and pro-neurotensin in the development, progression, and prognosis of NAFLD and NASH.

Keywords: MAFLD; NAFLD; biomarker; diagnosis; fatty liver; metabolic associated fatty liver disease; micro-RNA-122; nonalcoholic fatty liver disease; noninvasive; proneurotensin.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest, financial or otherwise.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Box-and-whisker plot chart showing difference between groups regarding: (A) serum proneurotensin, (B) serum micro-RNA-122.
Figure 2
Figure 2
ROC curve for diagnosis of pro-neurotensin and microRNA 122 assay in NAFLD patients.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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