Background: MicroRNAs are involved in gene regulation in several common liver diseases and may play an essential role in activating hepatic stellate cells. The role of these post-transcriptional regulators in schistosomiasis needs to be further studied in populations from endemic areas for a better understanding of the disease, the development of new therapeutic approaches, and the use of biomarkers for the prognosis of schistosomiasis.
Areas covered: We performed a systematic review to describe the main human microRNAs identified in non-experimental studies associated with aggravation of the disease in people infected with Schistosoma mansoni (S. mansoni) and Schistosoma japonicum (S. japonicum). Structured searches were carried out in PubMed, Medline, Science Direct, Directory of Open Access Journals, Scielo, Medcarib, and Global Index Medicus databases without time and language restrictions. This is a systematic review following the guidelines of the PRISMA platform.
Expert opinion: The miR-146a-5p, miR-150-5p, let-7a-5p, let-7d-5p, miR-92a- 3p, and miR-532-5p are associated with liver fibrosis in schistosomiasis caused by S. japonicum, revealing that these miRNAs that have been shown to be associated with liver fibrosis are good targets for new studies that evaluate their potential as a biomarker or even treating liver fibrosis in schistosomiasis.
Keywords: Bilharziasis; Katayama fever; MicroRNAs; biomarker; hepatic fibrosis; miRNA; schistosomiasis.