Host miRNA polymorphisms in viral induced hepatocellular carcinoma outcomes: A common disease underlying liver transplantation

Persistent infections caused by either hepatitis B virus (HBV) and/or hepatitis C virus (HCV) are the principal etiologies of cirrhosis on a global scale, with the potential to progress to the development of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Typically, for HCC detected in its early stages, liver transplantation (LT) represents the optimal therapeutic intervention, as it addresses both the malignancy and the associated liver ailment in a concurrent manner. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are 18-25 nucleotide RNA molecules that are known for their regulating ability during various developing processes of each cell and tissue especially in multicellular organisms. Considering the regulatory potential of miRNAs, any alterations in their expression pattern such as mutations that produce single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), might cause anomalies like tumors. In this review manuscript a systematic approach was used to investigate the studies performed to evaluate the role of Host miRNA SNPs in the outcome of viral based (HBV and HCV) HCC. The search was directed in PubMed, Web of Science, and Scopus databases that resulted in 33 related original articles and 8 reviews that used for finding any missing reports. Therefore, in this review it is tried to discuss the importance and relation of SNPs in host miRNAs during viral induced HCC complications.