RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Evaluation of plasma microRNA-122, high-mobility group box 1 and keratin-18 concentrations to stratify acute gallstone disease: a pilot observational cohort study in an emergency general surgery unit
JF BMJ Open
JO BMJ Open
FD British Medical Journal Publishing Group
SP e020061
DO 10.1136/bmjopen-2017-020061
VO 8
IS 4
A1 Francesca Th’ng
A1 Bastiaan Vliegenthart
A1 Jonathan D Lea
A1 Daniel J Antoine
A1 James W Dear
A1 Damian J Mole
A1 ,
YR 2018
UL http://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/8/4/e020061.abstract
AB Objective To obtain pilot data to evaluate the discriminatory power of biomarkers microRNA-122 (miR-122), high-mobility group box 1 (HMGB1), full-length keratin-18 (flk-18) and caspase-cleaved keratin-18 (cck-18) in plasma to identify potential biliary complications that may require acute intervention.Design An observational biomarker cohort pilot study.Setting In a Scottish University teaching hospital for 12 months beginning on 3 September 2014.Participants Blood samples were collected from adults (≥16 years old) referred with acute biliary-type symptoms who have presented to hospital within 24 hours prior were recruited. Patients unable or refused to give informed consent or were transferred from a hospital outside the National Health Service regional trust were excluded.Primary outcome measures To evaluate whether circulating miR-122, HMGB1, flk-18 and cck-18 can discriminate between people with and without gallstone disease and uncomplicated from complicated gallstone disease during the first 24 hours of hospital admission.Results 300 patients were screened of which 285 patients were included. Plasma miR-122, cck-18 and flk-18 concentrations were increased in patients with gallstones compared with those without (miR-122: median: 2.89×104 copies/mL vs 0.90×104 copies/mL (p<0.001); cck-18: 121.2 U/L vs 103.5 U/L (p=0.031); flk-18: 252.4 U/L vs 145.1 U/L (p<0.001)). Uncomplicated gallstone disease was associated with higher miR-122 and cck-18 concentrations than complicated disease (miR-122: 5.72×104 copies/mL vs 2.26×104 copies/mL (p=0.023); cck-18: 139.7 U/L vs 113.6 U/L (p=0.047)). There was no significant difference in HMGB1 concentration between patients with and without gallstones (p=0.559). Separation between groups for all biomarkers was modest.Conclusion miR-122 and keratin-18 plasma concentrations are elevated in patients with gallstones. However, this result is confounded by the association between biomarker concentrations, age and gender. In this pilot study, miR-122 and keratin-18 were not sufficiently discriminatory to be progressed as clinically useful biomarkers in this context.