title: Catheter ablation restores decreased plasma miR-409-3p and miR-432 in atrial fibrillation patients.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Despite numerous studies identifying specific microRNA (miRNA) expression profiles associated with atrial fibrillation (AF), changes in plasma miRNA expression in pre- and post-operative AF patients who have received catheter ablation, remain poorly characterized. This study aimed to reveal disease-related biomarkers by detecting plasma miRNA expression in AF patients, and examining the levels of AF-specific miRNAs in patients after catheter ablation, in order to help gauge therapeutic effects and assess prognosis.
  
  
  RESULTS
  A total of 100 Han Chinese patients with AF who had received catheter ablation, and 100 healthy individuals, were sequentially recruited to the study. Atrial fibrillation-specific plasma miRNAs were detected by Solexa sequencing and quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction. The expression levels of AF-specific miRNAs were also investigated in 40 post-operative patients (24-48 h) and 20 patients followed up (58.52 ± 36.00 days) after catheter ablation, to explore changes in miRNA expression. The expressions of miR-409-3p and miR-432 in the plasma of AF patients were lower than healthy individuals. In binary logistic regression analyses, reduced miR-409-3p and miR-432 levels were independently associated with AF (95% confidence interval: 1.02-2.22 and 1.09-2.43, P = 0.040 and 0.018, respectively). The levels of miR-409-3p and miR-432 showed no significant difference between post-operative patients and healthy individuals (P = 0.411 and 0.681, respectively), or between followed-up patients and healthy individuals (P = 0.720 and 0.073, respectively).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  We suggest that plasma miR-409-3p and miR-432 are potential markers of AF, and catheter ablation restores their decreased levels in AF patients.
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiology, Guangdong Cardiovascular Institute, Guangdong General Hospital, Guangdong Academy of Medical Sciences, Guangzhou, Guangdong 510100, China.
authors.forename: Tian
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Guangdong Cardiovascular Institute, Guangdong Academy of Medical Sciences, Medical Research Center of Guangdong General Hospital, Guangzhou, Guangdong 510100, China.
authors.forename: Shilong
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Zhong
authors.affiliation: Guangdong Cardiovascular Institute, Guangdong Academy of Medical Sciences, Medical Research Center of Guangdong General Hospital, Guangzhou, Guangdong 510100, China.
authors.forename: Fang
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Rao
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiology, Guangdong Cardiovascular Institute, Guangdong General Hospital, Guangdong Academy of Medical Sciences, Guangzhou, Guangdong 510100, China.
authors.forename: Yumei
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Xue
authors.affiliation: Guangdong Cardiovascular Institute, Guangdong Academy of Medical Sciences, Medical Research Center of Guangdong General Hospital, Guangzhou, Guangdong 510100, China.
authors.forename: Zhoucuo
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Qi
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiology, Guangdong Cardiovascular Institute, Guangdong General Hospital, Guangdong Academy of Medical Sciences, Guangzhou, Guangdong 510100, China wushull@126.com.
authors.forename: Shulin
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Wu
mesh_terms: D001281:Atrial Fibrillation / Q000097:blood* / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000601:surgery*; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000097:blood; D017115:Catheter Ablation / Q000379:methods*; D015536:Down-Regulation; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D035683:MicroRNAs / Q000097:blood*; D008875:Middle Aged; D011379:Prognosis; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers; C572367:MIRN409 microRNA, human; C582553:MIRN432 microRNA, human; D035683:MicroRNAs
keywords: Atrial fibrillation; Catheter ablation; Differential expression; MiRNA; Plasma