Changes in the expression profile of serum lncRNAs in pregnant women with high hepatitis B viral load during antiviral and non-antiviral treatment.

Objective: This research analyzes the potential of long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) as markers in determining the necessity of antiviral treatment in pregnant women by examining alterations in the expression profile of serum lncRNAs in pregnant women with elevated hepatitis B viral load (HBVL) under antiviral and non-antiviral treatment regimens between the second trimester and delivery.

Methods: Serum was obtained from 6 s-trimester pregnant women with high HBVL and no intrauterine infection. Then, 3 of these women were randomly selected for antiviral treatment, with the remaining 3 women undergoing non-antiviral treatment as control. Serum samples were again collected from these 6 women before delivery. The expression profile of lncRNAs was analyzed with microarray technology, followed by Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway enrichment analyses. The axes of hub lncRNA-miRNA-mRNA were identified based on the competing endogenous RNA (ceRNA) network.

Results: The expression profile of serum lncRNAs in pregnant women with high HBVL changed significantly from the second trimester of pregnancy until delivery under antiviral or non-antiviral treatment. The Venn diagram was utilized to screen out the jointly up-regulated and down-regulated lncRNAs in the serum of pregnant women under antiviral and non-antiviral treatment before delivery. Additionally, the KEGG pathway enrichment analysis results showed that lncRNAs might mediate the Hippo pathway in HBV infection. Based on the ceRNA network, 3 hub lncRNAs (CATG00000076041.1, LINC01310, and G014655) were found to potentially regulate the key gene TP73 in the Hippo pathway.

Conclusion: In this study, we retrieved co-differentially expressed lncRNAs in pregnant women with high HBVL under antiviral or non-antiviral treatment, which may be used as markers for evaluating whether pregnant women with high HBVL may be free of antiviral treatment. This study may provide a basis for preventing potential adverse effects of antiviral treatment on maternal and fetal health.