Predictive value and clinical significance of miR-186-5p in the development of esophageal varices in cirrhosis patients

Abstract Objectives Timely prediction of esophageal varices (EV) in cirrhotic patients is an effective step in the clinical management of cirrhotic patients. The aim of this study was to investigate the potential of microRNA-186-5p (miR-186-5p) a risk factor for EV in cirrhotic patients. Methods Serum miR-186-5p was detected by RT-qPCR assay. ROC curve was employed to assess the possibility of miR-186-5p in the diagnosis of cirrhosis and EV. Moreover, the pathological mechanism of miR-186-5p target genes in EV was elucidated by GO and KEGG analysis. Results miR-186-5p was downregulated in cirrhotic patients and had high diagnostic value in identifying cirrhosis. Meanwhile, miR-186-5p expression was decreased in EV patients with cirrhosis. Downregulation of miR-186-5p may sensitively predict the occurrence of EV in cirrhotic patients. Moreover, pathomechanism analysis elaborated that miR-186-5p downstream target genes were highly accumulated in regulation of mRNA processing, endoplasmic reticulum-Golgi intermediate compartment, protein serine/threonine kinase activity,and autophagy-animal. Conclusions miR-186-5p has high accuracy in predicting cirrhosis occurrence and identifying EV.