Circulating microRNAs as markers of liver inflammation, fibrosis and cancer

Since their discovery in 1993, miRNAs have emerged as a new class of small RNAs that control intracellular gene expression networks at a post-transcriptional level. In the liver, miRNAs play fundamental roles in the regulation of physiological and pathological processes. Despite their obvious potential as biomarkers, there are striking inter-study variances of miRNA regulation patterns in patients with hepatic diseases. As key prerequisites for a future clinical use- well-standardized protocols have to be implemented for the analysis of miRNAs from patients’ serum.