Short communication: Dynamic chemical labelling allows the measurement of the paracetamol toxicity biomarker microRNA‐122 in hospital clinical laboratories

TL;DR

A new method using dynamic chemical labeling can effectively measure a liver injury biomarker in hospital labs.

Contribution

Dynamic chemical labeling combined with fluorescence detection is proposed as a practical clinical tool for measuring miR-122.

Findings

miR-122 concentrations were significantly higher in paracetamol-induced liver injury patients compared to healthy controls.

The method achieved high sensitivity and specificity for detecting miR-122 with an AUC of 0.96.

miR-122 moderately correlated with ALT levels, a standard liver injury marker.

Abstract

MicroRNA‐122 (miR‐122) is a sensitive biomarker for paracetamol‐induced liver injury. This study assessed the diagnostic performance of dynamic chemical labelling (DCL) combined with an immunoassay platform to quantify miR‐122 in human serum, as a proof‐of‐concept for hospital use. This study used serum samples from 19 healthy individuals and 19 patients with paracetamol drug‐induced liver injury (DILI) collected in previous studies. miR‐122 was labelled with a biotinylated SMART‐Base and quantified using a multiplex, bead‐based, fluorescence detection system. The median miR‐122 concentration was significantly elevated at 233.4 pg/mL (IQR: 74.5–363.4) compared to 15.2 pg/mL (IQR: 9.4–24) in the control group. The Mann–Whitney U test showed significant group differences (p < 0.0001). ROC analysis yielded an area under the curve (AUC) of 0.96, with a 29.7 pg/mL cut‐off providing 92.6% sensitivity (95% CI: 76.6%–98.7%) and 89.4% specificity (95% CI: 68.6%–98.1%). miR‐122 moderately correlated with ALT (r = 0.56, p = 0.03). DCL with fluorescence detection is a promising clinical tool for miR‐122 quantification.

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