Long non-coding RNA-ATB (LncRNA-ATB) which is activated by transforming growth factor-β (TGF-β), is a key regulator of TGF-β signaling pathway. TGF-β plays an important role in various pathogenic processes, from inflammation and fibrosis to cirrhosis and cancer. In this study, we evaluated the plasma levels of lncRNA-ATB in patients with hepatitis B virus (HBV)-related cirrhosis and non-cirrhotic patients with chronic hepatitis B (CHB) and investigated the clinical values.

Plasma samples were collected from 44 HBV-related cirrhosis patients, 45 non-cirrhotic CHB and 75 healthy controls. Briefly, after total RNA extraction and cDNA synthesis, quantitative real-time PCR (qPCR) was performed to detect plasma lncRNA-ATB levels.

Results show the plasma levels of lncRNA-ATB in HBV-related cirrhosis patients were significantly higher in comparison to healthy controls (Fold change=2.60, p value=0.04). Also, we determined plasma levels of lncRNA-ATB as a specific biomarker of HBV-related cirrhosis (AUC=0.65, p value=0.03, Sensitivity 61.36%; Specificity 70.00%). In addition to, we investigated the plasma levels of lncRNA-ATB in non-cirrhotic CHB patients were significantly lower than healthy controls (Fold change= 0.33, p value=0.01). We also indicated plasma lncRNA-ATB levels were as a sensitive biomarker for diagnosis of non-cirrhotic CHB patients compared with healthy (AUC=0.66, p value=0.00, Sensitivity 71.11%; Specificity 57.78%).

According to our results, circulating lncRNA-ATB has good specificity for diagnosing hepatitis B virus (HBV)-related cirrhosis and good sensitivity for diagnosis of non-cirrhotic chronic hepatitis B (CHB) patients.

由转化生长因子-β（TGF-β）激活的长链非编码RNA-ATB（LncRNA-ATB）是TGF-β信号通路的关键调节因子。TGF-β在从炎症和纤维化到肝硬化和癌症的各种致病过程中发挥着重要作用。在这项研究中，我们评估了乙型肝炎病毒 (HBV) 相关肝硬化和非肝硬化慢性乙型肝炎 (CHB) 患者的血浆 lncRNA-ATB 水平，并研究了其临床价值。

从 44 名 HBV 相关肝硬化患者、45 名非肝硬化 CHB 和 75 名健康对照者收集血浆样本。简而言之，在总 RNA 提取和 cDNA 合成后，进行定量实时 PCR (qPCR) 以检测血浆 lncRNA-ATB 水平。

结果显示，与健康对照组相比，HBV相关肝硬化患者血浆lncRNA-ATB水平显着升高（倍数变化=2.60，p值=0.04）。此外，我们确定血浆 lncRNA-ATB 水平作为 HBV 相关肝硬化的特异性生物标志物（AUC=0.65，p 值=0.03，敏感性 61.36%；特异性 70.00%）。此外，我们调查了非肝硬化慢性乙型肝炎患者的血浆 lncRNA-ATB 水平显着低于健康对照组（倍数变化 = 0.33，p 值 = 0.01）。我们还指出，与健康人相比，血浆 lncRNA-ATB 水平是诊断非肝硬化 CHB 患者的敏感生物标志物（AUC=0.66，p 值=0.00，敏感性 71.11%；特异性 57.78%）。

根据我们的结果，循环 lncRNA-ATB 对诊断乙型肝炎病毒（HBV）相关肝硬化具有良好的特异性，对非肝硬化慢性乙型肝炎（CHB）患者的诊断具有良好的敏感性。