胆管癌（CCA）是一种危及生命的疾病，影响着全世界的患者。在东南亚国家，肝吸虫 Opisthorchis viverrini 在诱发胆管癌方面发挥着重要作用。由于其无症状性质，O. viverrini 感染很少得到治疗，因此导致 CCA 在诊断前发展为晚期。尽管目前使用外泌体 microRNA (miRNA) 作为诊断生物标志物来早期检测多种类型的癌症，但 miRNA 在 CCA 中的应用仍然受到限制。循环外泌体是细胞间通讯所必需的膜囊泡，被发现含有独特的 miRNA。在本研究中，我们进行了新一代测序（Ion Torrent PGM）和生物信息学来表征和比较来自 CCA 患者、O. viverrini 感染患者和健康个体血浆的外泌体 miRNA 的含量，并鉴定并验证关键分子作为筛选诊断 CCA 和 O. viverrini 感染的标志物。获得的结果表明使用NGS技术成功发现了外泌体miRNA，特别是miR-194-5p和miR-192-5p，这两者在O. viverrini感染组中表达上调。有趣的是，在 CCA 中，miR-192-5p 上调，而 miR-194-5p 下调，这表明它们有可能用作筛查 CCA 和 O. viverrini 感染的生物标志物，特别是在 O. viverrini 流行地区。版权所有 © 2024。爱思唯尔有限公司

Cholangiocarcinoma (CCA) is a life-threatening disease that impacts patients worldwide. In Southeast Asian countries, the liver fluke Opisthorchis viverrini plays a major role in inducing carcinogenesis of the bile ducts. Due to its asymptomatic nature, O. viverrini infections are rarely treated, consequently leading to the development of advanced stages of CCA before diagnosis. Despite the current use of exosomal microRNAs (miRNA) as diagnostic biomarkers for the early detection of many types of cancer, the applications for miRNA remain limited with CCA. Circulating exosomes, membranous vesicles essential for intercellular communication, were found to contain unique miRNA. In this study, we conducted next-generation sequencing (Ion Torrent PGM) and bioinformatics to characterize and compare the contents of exosomal miRNA derived from the plasma of CCA patients, O. viverrini-infected patients, and healthy individuals, as well as to identify and validate key molecules as markers for screening the diagnosis of CCA and O. viverrini infection. The obtained results showed the success of using NGS technology in discovering exosomal miRNAs, specifically miR-194-5p and miR-192-5p, both of which were upregulated in the O. viverrini-infected group. Interestingly, miR-192-5p was upregulated while miR-194-5p was downregulated in CCA, suggesting their potential use as biomarkers for screening CCA and O. viverrini infection, especially in O. viverrini-endemic areas.Copyright © 2024. Published by Elsevier B.V.