TGFB1 and chronic hepatitis C virus infection: According to Matsuura et al. (2018), the plasma level of let-7a-5p was inversely correlated with the severity of hepatic fibrosis in patients with chronic hepatitis C. Liu and Jiang (2020) reported that it suppressed the epithelial–mesenchymal transition in TGF-β-induced human lens epithelial cells.