Plasma microRNA-133a is a new marker for both acute myocardial infarction and underlying coronary artery stenosis.
BACKGROUND
Previous study demonstrated that miR-133a was released into blood from injured myocardium in cardiovascular diseases. However, the dynamic change of circulating miR-133a level in the early phase of acute myocardial infarction (AMI) and the correlation between miR-133a and severity of coronary stenosis in coronary heart disease (CHD) patients are not clear.


RESULTS
Three different cohorts (including 13 AMI patients, 176 angina pectoris patients and 127 control subjects) were enrolled to investigate the expression levels of circulating miR-133a in patients with myocardial ischemia and also the relationship between plasma miR-133a and severity of coronary stenosis. Plasma miR-133a levels of participants were examined by real-time quantitative PCR. Simultaneously, plasma cardiac troponin I (cTnI) concentrations were measured by ELISA assays. The results showed that circulating miR-133a level was significantly increased in AMI patients in time-dependent manner, and achieved a 72.1 fold peak at 21.6 ± 4.5 hours after the onset of AMI symptoms and exhibited a similar trend to plasma cTnI level. We also found that plasma miR-133a levels were higher in CHD patients than control group. Importantly, the levels of circulating miR-133a positively correlated with the severities of the coronary artery stenosis. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis revealed that circulating miR-133a had considerable diagnostic accuracy for CHD with an AUC of 0.918 (95% confidence interval 0.877-0.960).


CONCLUSIONS
Circulating miR-133a may be a new biomarker for AMI and as a potential diagnostic tool. And increased miR-133a level may be used to predict both the presence and severity of coronary lesions in CHD patients.
The Institute of Hypertension and Department of Internal Medicine, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, People's Republic of China. chenchen@tjh.tjmu.edu.cn.
Feng
F
Wang
Guangwen
G
Long
Chunxia
C
Zhao
Huaping
H
Li
Sandip
S
Chaugai
Yan
Y
Wang
Chen
C
Chen
Dao Wen
DW
Wang
D015415:Biomarkers / Q000097:blood; D015331:Cohort Studies; D023921:Coronary Stenosis / Q000097:blood* / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000235:genetics*; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation; D006801:Humans; D035683:MicroRNAs / Q000097:blood* / Q000235:genetics; D009203:Myocardial Infarction / Q000097:blood* / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000235:genetics*; D060888:Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D019210:Troponin I / Q000378:metabolism
D015415:Biomarkers; C548234:MIRN133 microRNA, human; D035683:MicroRNAs; D019210:Troponin I