The enrolment of patients was conducted following the protocol of donor–recipient allografts performed at the Hepatobiliary and Transplant Surgery Unit (IRCCS, S. Orsola Hospital, Bologna, Italy) with the ethical committee’s approval (code: 44/2008/Tess) in the framework of a national project (PRIN2008), several years before the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic period. Serum samples were collected from 14 LT recipients before surgery (pre-LT) and during the follow-up period (FU) at different times after transplantation, for a total of 28 samples. The main characteristics of this group of patients are reported in Table 1.
The second group of samples was collected from recipients only after LT in the FU period (N = 19). The main characteristics of this cohort are summarized in Table 2. The same serum samples, for both cohorts, were analyzed and described in detail in the previous publication [11 (link)], even if some serum samples from those patients are currently no longer available. Thus, the total number of enrolled recipients was 33, their age range was from 25 up to 69 years, and their average age was of 50.6 ± 10.5 (years ± SD).
Furthermore, serum samples collected from a nontransplanted control group (N = 24) were evaluated as a reference for all of the investigated miRs. The control group was constituted by 28–68 year old healthy subjects, average 49.3 ± 12.3 (years ± SD), matching the age and sex of the recipients.
Liver function markers were acquired for all patients enrolled in the study, in collaboration with the General Surgery and Transplant Unit (S. Orsola Hospital, Bologna, Italy). In particular, total bilirubin (TBIL), indirect bilirubin (IBIL), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alanine aminotransferase (ALT), gamma-glutamyl transferase (GGT), alpha-fetoprotein (ALP), and albumin (ALB) were acquired. These data were also described in a previous study [11 (link)].
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