Abstract: Objective The aim of this study was to explore the clinical implications of peripheral blood mononuclear cell (PBMC) hypoxia-inducible factor 1a-antisense RNA 1 (HIF1a-AS1)and serum autophagy gene beclin1 in patients with non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH). Methods 118 patients with NASH (early stage in 43 cases, with liver fibrosis in 46 cases and with cirrhosis in 29 cases ) and 118 healthy individuals were enrolled in our hospital between January 2019 and April 2021. The fasting blood glucose (FBG), serum total cholesterol (TC), triglyceride (TG), high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) levels were detected by full-automatic biochemical analyzer. The PBMC HIF1a-AS1 level was detected by real-time fluorescent quantitative PCR. Serum beclin1 level was detected by ELISA. Results The FBG, serum TC, TG, LDL-C, PBMC HIF1a-AS1 and serum beclin1 levels in patients with NASH were (5.9±1.6)mmol/L, (6.2±0.5)mmol/L,(2.4±0.6)mmol/L, (3.7±0.9)mmol/L, (1.9±0.2) and (5.7±1.9)ng/mL, all significantly higher [(4.8±0.7)mmol/L, (5.3±0.3)mmol/L, (1.3±0.3)mmol/L, (2.3±0.6)mmol/L, (1.0±0.1) and (4.1±1.5)ng/mL, respectively, P＜0.05], while serum HDL-C level was (1.2±0.2)mmol/L, significantly lower than [(1.4±0.3)mmol/L, P＜0.05] in healthy persons; the FBG, serum TC, TG, LDL-C, PBMC HIF1a-AS1 and serum beclin1 levels in patients with cirrhotic NASH were(6.8±2.0)mmol/L, (6.8±0.8)mmol/L, (2.8±0.7)mmol/L, (4.4±1.2)mmol/L, (2.5±0.3) and (6.4±2.1)ng/mL, all significantly higher than [(5.2±1.1)mmol/L, (5.7±0.4)mmol/L, (1.9±0.5)mmol/L, (3.1±1.0)mmol/L, (1.4±0.1) and (5.1±1.3)ng/mL, respectively, P＜0.05] in patients with early NASH; the FBG, serum TC, TG, LDL-C, PBMC HIF1a-AS1 and serum beclin1 levels in 49 patients with concomitant hypertension, diabetes and/or hyperlipidemia were (6.5±1.9) mmol/L, (6.9±0.8)mmol/L, (2.7±0.8)mmol/L, (4.0±1.1)mmol/L,(2.2±0.3) and (6.3±2.0)ng/mL, all significantly higher than [(5.5±1.3)mmol/L, (5.7±0.4)mmol/L, (2.2±0.5)mmol/L, (3.5±0.7)mmol/L, (1.7±0.2) and (5.3±1.6)ng/mL, respectively, P＜0.05], while serum HDL-C level was (1.1±0.2)mmol/L, significantly lower than [(1.3±0.4)mmol/L, P＜0.05] in 69 patients without. Conclusion The PBMC HIF1a-AS1 and serum beclin1 levels abnormally increase in patients with NASH, and the surveillance of them might help the disease assessment.

Key words: Non-alcoholic steatohepatitis, Peripheral blood mononuclear cells, Hypoxia-inducible factor 1a-antisense RNA 1, Beclin1, Implications