Noncoding RNAs in sepsis-associated acute liver injury: Roles, mechanisms, and therapeutic applications

Sepsis is a life-threatening syndrome characterized by organ dysfunction caused by a dysregulated host response to infection. Sepsis-associated acute liver injury (SA-ALI) is a frequent and serious complication of sepsis that considerably impacts both short-term and long-term survival outcomes. In intensive care units (ICUs), the mortality rate of patients with SA-ALI remains high, mostly due to the absence of effective early diagnostic markers and suitable therapeutic strategies. Recent studies have demonstrated the importance of non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs) in the development and progression of SA-ALI. This review focuses on the critical roles of ncRNAs, including microRNAs (miRNAs), long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs), and circular RNAs (circRNAs), in regulating “cytokine storms”, oxidative stress, mitochondrial dysfunction, and programmed cell death in SA-ALI, and summarizes the current state and limitations of existing studies on lncRNAs and circRNAs in SA-ALI. By integrating advancements in high-throughput sequencing technologies, this review provides novel insights into the dual potential of ncRNAs as diagnostic biomarkers and therapeutic targets, offers new ideas for SA-ALI diagnosis and treatment research and highlights potential challenges in clinical translation.