A longitudinal assessment of miR-122 and GLDH as biomarkers of drug-induced liver injury in the rat.

Thulin P, Hornby RJ, Auli M, Nordahl G, Antoine DJ, Starkey Lewis P, Goldring CE, Park BK, Prats N, Glinghammar B, Schuppe-Koistinen I

Biomarkers 22 (5) 461-469 [2017-07-00; online 2016-12-15]

There is an ongoing search for specific and translational biomarkers of drug-induced liver injury (DILI). MicroRNA-122 (miR-122) has previously shown potential as a sensitive, specific, and translational biomarker of DILI in both rodent, and human studies. To build on previous work within the field, we examined biomarker kinetics in a rat model of acetaminophen (APAP)-induced liver injury to confirm the sensitivity, and specificity of miR-122 and glutamate dehydrogenase (GLDH). qRT-PCR and a standard enzymatic assay were used for biomarker analysis. Both miR-122 and GLDH were demonstrated to be more readily-detectable biomarkers of APAP-DILI than alanine aminotransferase (ALT). Peak levels for all biomarkers were detected at 2 days after APAP. At day 3, miR-122 had returned to baseline; however, other biomarkers remained elevated between 3 and 4 days. We were also able to demonstrate that, although miR-122 is present in greater quantities in exosome-free form, both exosome-bound and non-vesicle bound miR-122 are released in a similar profile throughout the course of DILI. Together, this study demonstrates that both GLDH and miR-122 could be used during preclinical drug-development as complementary biomarkers to ALT to increase the chance of early detection of hepatotoxicity.

Affiliated researcher

PubMed 27978773

DOI 10.1080/1354750X.2016.1269131

Crossref 10.1080/1354750X.2016.1269131


Publications 9.5.1