title: MicroRNA-134 as a potential plasma biomarker for the diagnosis of acute pulmonary embolism.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Acute pulmonary embolism (APE) remains a diagnostic challenge due to a variable clinical presentation and the lack of a reliable screening tool. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) regulate gene expression in a wide range of pathophysiologic processes. Circulating miRNAs are emerging biomarkers in heart failure, type 2 diabetes and other disease states; however, using plasma miRNAs as biomarkers for the diagnosis of APE is still unknown.
  
  
  METHODS
  Thirty-two APE patients, 32 healthy controls, and 22 non-APE patients (reported dyspnea, chest pain, or cough) were enrolled in this study. The TaqMan miRNA microarray was used to identify dysregulated miRNAs in the plasma of APE patients. The TaqMan-based miRNA quantitative real-time reverse transcription polymerase chain reactions were used to validate the dysregulated miRNAs. The receiver-operator characteristic (ROC) curve analysis was conducted to evaluate the diagnostic accuracy of the miRNA identified as the candidate biomarker.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Plasma miRNA-134 (miR-134) level was significantly higher in the APE patients than in the healthy controls or non-APE patients. The ROC curve showed that plasma miR-134 was a specific diagnostic predictor of APE with an area under the curve of 0.833 (95% confidence interval, 0.737 to 0.929; P < 0.001).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our findings indicated that plasma miR-134 could be an important biomarker for the diagnosis of APE. Because of this finding, large-scale investigations are urgently needed to pave the way from basic research to clinical utilization.
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Arrhythmias, Ministry of Education, China (East Hospital, Tongji University School of Medicine), Shanghai, China.
authors.forename: Junjie
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Xiao
authors.forename: Zhi-Cheng
authors.initials: ZC
authors.lastname: Jing
authors.forename: Patrick T
authors.initials: PT
authors.lastname: Ellinor
authors.forename: Dandan
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Liang
authors.forename: Hong
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Ying
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Xiaoli
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Lei
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Pan
authors.forename: Robert
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Lyon
authors.forename: Yi
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Lu-Ying
authors.initials: LY
authors.lastname: Peng
authors.forename: Xingqun
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Liang
authors.forename: Yunfu
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Sun
authors.forename: Laurentiu M
authors.initials: LM
authors.lastname: Popescu
authors.forename: Gianluigi
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Condorelli
authors.forename: Yi-Han
authors.initials: YH
authors.lastname: Chen
mesh_terms: D000208:Acute Disease; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000097:blood; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D005260:Female; D020869:Gene Expression Profiling; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D035683:MicroRNAs / Q000097:blood* / Q000235:genetics; D008875:Middle Aged; D011655:Pulmonary Embolism / Q000097:blood* / Q000175:diagnosis*; D012372:ROC Curve; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012307:Risk Factors
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers; C569273:MIRN134 microRNA, human; D035683:MicroRNAs