Expression Profiling of Cardiac Specific miRNAs in Coronary Artery Disease

Abstract

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Acute Myocardial Infarction (AMI) is a major cause of death, worldwide. Advanced approaches for the identification of myocardial infractions are required to overcome the mortality caused by AMI. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are small (~22 nt) regulatory RNAs that are often unregulated and serve as potential blood-based markers in the diagnosis and prognostication of various pathological conditions. This study shows that these circulating miRNAs are present in a significantly stable and cell free form in human plasma that is shielded from endogenic RNase activity. Real-time PCR analysis of some cardiac and muscle specific miRNAs viz., miR-208a, miR-208b, miR-1 and miR-133a revealed significantly elevated levels of these miRNAs in the plasma of AMI patients (n=52) compared with healthy individuals (n=15, P ˂ 0.001). Notably, miR-208a remained undetectable in healthy individuals but was easily detected in 90% AMI patients within 4 hours of the onset of symptoms. Markedly increased level of cardiac-specific miRNAs in plasma could serve as a novel biomarker for the early detection of myocardial injury in humans.