3-De­oxy-3-fluoro-d-glucopyran­ose crystallizes from acetone to give a unit cell containing two crystallographically independent mol­ecules. One of these mol­ecules (at site A) is structurally homogeneous and corresponds to 3-de­oxy-3-fluoro-β-d-glucopyran­ose, C6H11FO5, (I). The second mol­ecule (at site B) is structurally heterogeneous and corresponds to a mixture of (I) and 3-de­oxy-3-fluoro-α-d-glucopyran­ose, (II); treatment of the diffraction data using partial-occupancy oxygen at the anomeric center gave a high-quality packing model with an occupancy ratio of 0.84:0.16 for (II):(I) at site B. The mixture of α- and β-anomers at site B appears to be accommodated in the lattice because hydrogen-bonding partners are present to hydrogen bond to the anomeric OH group in either an axial or equatorial orientation. Cremer–Pople analysis of (I) and (II) shows the pyranosyl ring of (II) to be slightly more distorted than that of (I) [θ(I) = 3.85 (15)° and θ(II) = 6.35 (16)°], but the general direction of distortion is similar in both structures [ϕ(I) = 67 (2)° (B C1,C4) and ϕ(II) = 26.0 (15)° (C3 TB C1); B = boat conformation and TB = twist-boat conformation]. The exocyclic hy­droxy­methyl (–CH2OH) conformation is gg (gauche–gauche) (H5 anti to O6) in both (I) and (II). Structural comparisons of (I) and (II) to related unsubstituted, de­oxy and fluorine-substituted monosaccharides show that the gluco ring can assume a wide range of distorted chair structures in the crystalline state depending on ring substitution patterns.

4-De­oxy-4-fluoro-β-d-glucopyran­ose, C6H11FO5, (I), crystallizes from water at room temperature in a slightly distorted 4 C 1 chair con­formation. The observed chair distortion differs from that observed in β-d-glucopyran­ose [Kouwijzer, van Eijck, Kooijman & Kroon (1995 ▶). Acta Cryst. B51, 209–220], (II), with the former skewed toward a B C3,O5 (boat) conformer and the latter toward an O5 TB C2 (twist–boat) conformer, based on Cremer–Pople analysis. The exocyclic hy­droxy­methyl group conformations in (I) and (II) are similar; in both cases, the O—C—C—O torsion angle is ∼−60° (gg con­former). Inter­molecular hydrogen bonding in the crystal structures of (I) and (II) is conserved in that identical patterns of donors and acceptors are observed for the exocyclic substituents and the ring O atom of each monosaccharide. Inspection of the crystal packing structures of (I) and (II) reveals an essentially identical packing configuration.

Circulating miRNAs (microRNAs) are emerging as promising biomarkers for several pathological conditions, and the aim of this study was to investigate the feasibility of using serum miRNAs as biomarkers for liver pathologies. Real-time qPCR (quantitative PCR)-based TaqMan MicroRNA arrays were first employed to profile miRNAs in serum pools from patients with HCC (hepatocellular carcinoma) or LC (liver cirrhosis) and from healthy controls. Five miRNAs (i.e. miR-885-5p, miR-574-3p, miR-224, miR-215 and miR-146a) that were up-regulated in the HCC and LC serum pools were selected and further quantified using real-time qPCR in patients with HCC, LC, CHB (chronic hepatitis B) or GC (gastric cancer) and in normal controls. The present study revealed that more than 110 miRNA species in the serum samples and wide distribution ranges of serum miRNAs were observed. The levels of miR-885-5p were significantly higher in sera from patients with HCC, LC and CHB than in healthy controls or GC patients. miR-885-5p yielded an AUC [the area under the ROC (receiver operating characteristic) curve] of 0.904 [95% CI (confidence interval), 0.837–0.951, P<0.0001) with 90.53% sensitivity and 79.17% specificity in discriminating liver pathologies from healthy controls, using a cut off value of 1.06 (normalized). No correlations between increased miR-885-5p and liver function parameters [AFP (α-fetoprotein), ALT (alanine aminotransferase), AST (aspartate aminotransferase) and GGT (γ-glutamyl transpeptidase)] were observed in patients with liver pathologies. In summary, miR-885-5p is significantly elevated in the sera of patients with liver pathologies, and our data suggest that serum miRNAs could serve as novel complementary biomarkers for the detection and assessment of liver pathologies.