Abstract
Background and Objectives
Hepatitis C virus is the main cause of hepatitis C infection that usually has no symptoms at early stages. Studies have shown changes in the expression level of microRNAs in various diseases such as hepatitis. MiR-199a and miR-196b have an inhibitory effect on hepatitis C virus. In a recent study, we examined the expression levels of miR-199a and miR-196b in serum samples of asymptomatic hepatitis C infected blood donors in comparison to serum samples of healthy blood donors; based on the results, the importance of microRNAs in different stages of hepatitis C infection was evaluated.
 
Materials and Methods
In this case control study, first total RNA extraction from 106 serum samples of healthy blood donors (control group) and 106 serum samples of asymptomatic hepatitis C infected blood donors (case group) was carried out. After cDNA synthesis, the expression level of miR-199a and miR-196b were evaluated by SYBR Green real-time PCR, and the results were analyzed by REST 2009 software.
 
Results
Expression level of miR-196b in the case group compared to the control group was lower (p  0.001). No statistically significant difference was observed in the expression level of miR-199a between the two groups.
 
Conclusions 
With regard to lower expression level of miR-196b, and given no significant difference of miR-199a expression level in the case group in comparison to the control group, future studies on the role of miR-196b in this disease are required.