The Role of Gold Nanorods in Detecting Circulating microRNAs as Biomarkers in Liver Diseases

Liver disease is one of the most significant diseases in humans. Various factors can lead to liver degeneration and necrosis, fatty liver, cirrhosis, etc. This study evaluated the diagnostic value of circulating miRNAs in liver injury and examined the role of gold nanorods (AuNRs) in the detection of biological indicators. We collected data from patients with liver injury in three groups. Healthy volunteers were used as the control group, and the levels of serum markers of liver injury were detected in all participants. The circulating miRNAs associated with liver injury were screened by searching the database, and circulating miRNAs were detected by qRT-PCR. The sensitivity and specificity of circulating miRNAs in diagnosing liver injury were analyzed using receiver operating characteristic curve. AuNRs were prepared to evaluate the concentrations of glucose, cholesterol, uric acid, and alkaline phosphatase (ALP), which were compared with the test results of the kit. We found that the levels of alanine aminotransferase and aspartate aminotransferase changed significantly in patients with drug-induced liver injury (DILI). Total bilirubin levels increased significantly in patients with both non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) and DILI, but difference between the two groups was insignificant. MDH and adenosine deaminase levels increased in patients with liver injury, whereas paraoxonase-1 levels decreased, which can be combined with alanine aminotransferase levels to diagnose patients with liver injury. Compared with the control group, circulating miR-106-5p, miR-194-5p, and miR-29b-3p were specifically expressed in tissues with liver injury: miR-106-5p expression was lowest in NASH, miR-194-5p expression was highest in chronic hepatitis B (CHB) and NASH, and miR-29b-3p expression was highest in CHB. Receiver operating characteristic curve analysis revealed that miR-106-5p, miR-194-5p, and miR-29b-3p can be used to diagnose patients with NASH, DILI, and CHB, respectively. The combination of miR-194-5p and miR-29b-3p showed good diagnostic ability. The results of biological indicator detection using AuNRs were similar to those detected by the kit. Therefore, AuNRs are a promising candidate for biological detection. This study validated the diagnostic value of circulating miRNAs in liver disease and the application of AuNRs in the detection of biological indicators, providing more theoretical basis for the role of circulating miRNAs in disease prevention and diagnosis.