Expression and clinical significance of ribonucleotide reductase small subunit M2 in chronic HBV infection and other liver diseases

Abstract

Objective To investigate the expression and clinical significance of ribonucleotide reductase small subunit M2 (RRM2) in chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection and related liver diseases. Methods A total of 428 patients with chronic HBV infection and liver disease were enrolled from Songyang County People’s Hospital from October 2017 to September 2019. There were 166 cases of chronic hepatitis B (CHB), 53 cases of HBV-related cirrhosis, 28 cases of non-HBV-related cirrhosis, 57 cases of HBV-related liver cancer, 33 cases of non-HBV-related liver cancer, and 91 cases of non-viral hepatitis. In addition, 36 healthy subjects were selected as the control group. Among 166 cases of CHB, there were 87 patients with high viral load group (HBV DNA ≥4.0 lg IU/mL) and 79 patients with low viral load group (HBV DNA <4.0 lg IU/mL); while in 87 high viral load patients, 56 had high alanine transaminase (ALT) (≥40 U/L) and 31 had normal ALT (<40 U/L). The expression level of serum RRM2 protein in patients was detected by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), and the relationship of RRM2 expression with HBV DNA and liver function was analyzed. SPSS 23.0 and PRISM 8.0 statistical software were used to analyze data. Correlation analysis was performed using Spearman analysis. Results The serum ALT and RRM2 levels in patients with high viral load CHB were higher than those in low viral load group (Z=-6.68, t=6.80, P 0.05). The level of ALT in the non-viral hepatitis group was higher than that in the healthy control group (Z=-8.43, P 0.05). Correlation analysis showed that serum RRM2 level was positively correlated with HBV DNA load (r=0.51, P 0.05) in patients with chronic HBV infection and related liver diseases. Conclusions Serum RRM2 level is positively correlated with HBV DNA load and has no significant correlation with ALT. RRM2 might be used as a target for the development of new hepatitis B drugs. Key words: Hepatitis B, chronic; HBV DNA; Ribonucleotide reductase; Alanine transaminase