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Cardiomyocyte-specific microRNA presents diagnostic potential for CV disorders
Corsten M. Circ Cardiovasc Genet. 2010;doi:10.1161/CIRCGENETICS.110.957415.
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Plasma levels of select microRNA were found to be significantly higher in patients with such conditions as acute MI and viral myocarditis, leading researchers of the Circulation: Cardiovascular Genetics study to credit the RNA molecules as being possible biomarkers in cardiology.
“It was recently discovered that small RNAs, called microRNAs, circulate freely and stably in human plasma. This finding has sparked interest in the potential of microRNAs as biomarkers, because microRNAs are strongly implicated in CVD and RNA molecules can be detected with high specificity and sensitivity using novel molecular techniques,” the researchers wrote.
To test this hypothesis, they isolated microRNAs from plasmas taken from patients with varying degrees of cardiac damage from such conditions as acute MI, viral myocarditis, diastolic dysfunction and acute HF. They used real-time percutaneous coronary revascularization to determine plasma levels of selected microRNAs, including those associated with the heart (microRNA-1, -133a, -208b and -499), fibrosis (microRNA-21 and -29b) and leukocytes (microRNA-146, -155 and -223).
In plasma from acute MI patients, researchers found significantly higher levels of microRNA-208b (1,600-fold; P<.005) and microRNA-499 (100-fold; P<.0005) when compared with controls. For viral myocarditis, they observed less extreme but still statistically significant elevations of microRNA-208b (30-fold; P<.01) and microRNA-499 (sixfold; P<.01) vs. controls.
No significant changes were reported in microRNAs for diastolic dysfunction and only microRNA-499 was elevated (twofold; P<.05) in acute HF patients. Researchers said plasma microRNA levels were not affected by a number of clinical confounders, including age, gender, BMI, kidney function, systolic BP and white blood cell count.
“We report that cardiac damage in diverse cardiac diseases initiates massive release of cardiomyocyte-specific microRNAs into the circulation, and that these microRNAs are highly insensitive to clinical characteristics in a cardiovascular patient population,” researchers wrote. “Our findings suggest a potential role for microRNAs as biomarkers in cardiology and mandate subsequent investigations to define their clinical applicability in early detection of myocardial damage.”
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