Plasma microRNAs serve as potential biomarkers for abdominal aortic aneurysm.
OBJECTIVE
Abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) is often asymptomatic until rupture occurs. Although ultrasound screening has significantly improved the early diagnosis of AAA, the timely biomarker-based diagnosis of AAA remains a major clinical challenge. In this study, we aimed to assess plasma microRNAs (miRNAs) as promising novel biomarkers in patients with AAA.


METHODS
Pooled plasma samples from 10 AAA and 10 healthy controls were profiled by microarray. The differentially expressed miRNAs were evaluated in a separate cohort of 120 subjects, including 60 AAA patients and 60 normal controls.


RESULTS
The initial profiling study identified 151 miRNAs that showed more than two-fold change. Among them, three miRNAs, miR-191-3p, miR-455-3p and miR-1281 exhibited the largest increase in the patient group (fold change>5). A subsequent validation study confirmed the elevation of these three miRNAs. Receiver operator characteristic curve analysis using the expression ratio of miR-191-3p, miR-455-3p and miR-1281 showed an area under the curve of 0.9700, 0.9825 and 0.9206, respectively.


CONCLUSIONS
Our results suggest that plasma miR-191-3p, miR-455-3p and miR-1281 may be used as potential diagnosis biomarkers for AAA.
Department of Vascular Surgery, Nanjing Drum Tower Hospital, The Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing University Medical School, Nanjing, PR China. Electronic address: zhangatnju@163.com.
Wenwen
W
Zhang
Department of Vascular Surgery, Nanjing Drum Tower Hospital, The Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing University Medical School, Nanjing, PR China. Electronic address: shangtao0407@163.com.
Tao
T
Shang
Department of Vascular Surgery, Nanjing Drum Tower Hospital, The Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing University Medical School, Nanjing, PR China. Electronic address: huangchen0912@163.com.
Chen
C
Huang
Department of Vascular Surgery, Nanjing Drum Tower Hospital, The Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing University Medical School, Nanjing, PR China. Electronic address: yutongnjmu@163.com.
Tong
T
Yu
Department of Vascular Surgery, Nanjing Drum Tower Hospital, The Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing University Medical School, Nanjing, PR China. Electronic address: liuchendth@163.com.
Chen
C
Liu
Department of Vascular Surgery, Nanjing Drum Tower Hospital, The Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing University Medical School, Nanjing, PR China. Electronic address: qiaotongdth@163.com.
Tong
T
Qiao
Department of Vascular Surgery, Nanjing Drum Tower Hospital, The Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing University Medical School, Nanjing, PR China. Electronic address: huangdiandth@163.com.
Dian
D
Huang
Department of Vascular Surgery, Nanjing Drum Tower Hospital, The Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing University Medical School, Nanjing, PR China. Electronic address: liuzhao83@gmail.com.
Zhao
Z
Liu
Department of Vascular Surgery, Nanjing Drum Tower Hospital, The Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing University Medical School, Nanjing, PR China. Electronic address: dr_cjliu@hotmail.com.
Changjian
C
Liu
D000368:Aged; D017544:Aortic Aneurysm, Abdominal / Q000097:blood* / Q000175:diagnosis; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000097:blood; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D015331:Cohort Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D035683:MicroRNAs / Q000097:blood*; D008875:Middle Aged; D025202:Molecular Diagnostic Techniques; D020411:Oligonucleotide Array Sequence Analysis; D010949:Plasma / Q000737:chemistry; D012372:ROC Curve; D060888:Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D015854:Up-Regulation
D015415:Biomarkers; C000608605:MIRN1281 microRNA, human; C546177:MIRN191 microRNA, human; C583404:MIRN455 microRNA, human; D035683:MicroRNAs
Abdominal aortic aneurysm; Biomarkers; miRNAs