Chinese Hepatolgy ›› 2026, Vol. 31 ›› Issue (1): 96-101.

• Other Liver Diseases • Previous Articles     Next Articles

The expression characteristics of miRNA in peripheral blood of patients with high altitude polycythemia and its correlation with liver function damage

BAI Jie1, HUANG He2, HAO Guang-dong1, BAI Yun3   

  1. 1. Department of the Second Outpatient,the 940th Hospital of the Joint Logistics Support Force, Lanzhou 730070,China;
    2. Department of Neurology, the 940th Hospital of the Joint Logistics Support Force, Lanzhou 730050,China;
    3. Department of Patient Management, the 940th Hospital of the Joint Logistics Support Force, Lanzhou 730050,China
  • Received:2024-12-26 Online:2026-01-31 Published:2026-03-30
  • Contact: BAI Yun

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Abstract: Objective To explore the differences in miRNA expression in the peripheral blood of patients with High Altitude Polycythemia (HAPC) and to analyze the correlation between peripheral blood miRNA levels and liver function damage in HAPC. Methods A total of 100 HAPC patients who moved from plain areas to areas above 4 300 meters in altitude were collected and set as the HAPC group; another 100 healthy individuals from the same altitude area were selected as the control group. Clinical laboratory data of both groups were collected, and 16S rRNA high-throughput sequencing technology was used to sequence 10 subjects from each group to screen for differentially expressed miRNAs. Real-time fluorescence quantitative PCR technology was used to detect the expression of differential miRNAs in all subjects. Additionally, based on the liver function damage status (ALT ≥ 2 times the upper limit of the normal value) of the HAPC group patients, they were divided into liver function damage group and non-damage group; logistic regression analysis was performed to analyze the independent correlative factors of liver function impairment in HAPC group. Pearson correlation analysis was used to analyze the correlation between differential miRNAs and liver function. Results The SpO2 of the HAPC group was lower than that of the control group, and the levels of RBC and Hb were higher than those of the control group, with statistically significant differences (P<0.05); 16S rRNA high-throughput sequencing results showed that there were 322 differentially expressed miRNAs between the HAPC group and the control group, among which 115 were significantly differentially expressed, with 75 up-regulated and 40 down-regulated. The top 10 miRNAs with high expression, stability, and large fold changes were selected for validation, and PCR validation results showed that the relative expression levels of miR-122-5p, miR-423-5p, miR-23a, miR-451a, miR-223, miR-486-3p, miR-183-5p, and miR-1291 in the HAPC group were higher than those in the control group, while the relative expression levels of miR-200c-3p and miR-150-5p were lower than those in the control group (P<0.05); subgroup analysis of the HAPC group patients showed that the relative expression levels of miR-23a, miR-451a, and miR-223 in the liver function damage group were significantly higher than those in the non-damage group, with statistically significant differences (P<0.05); Logistic regression analysis showed that miR-451a (OR=3.288), miR-223 (OR=1.232), and Hb levels (OR=1.139) were independently associated with liver function damage in HAPC patients (P<0.05); Pearson correlation analysis showed that the relative expression levels of miR-451a and miR-223 were positively correlated with the ALT levels in HAPC patients (r=0.743, 0.683, P<0.05). Conclusion Compared with healthy individuals at the same altitude, HAPC patients have significant differences in miRNA expression, and the high expression of miR-451a and miR-223 may be related to liver function damage in HAPC patients.

Key words: High altitude polycythemia, Peripheral blood miRNA, Liver function damage, Correlation