title: Circulating miRNA29 family expression levels in patients with essential hypertension as potential markers for left ventricular hypertrophy.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The role of microRNAs (miRs,miRNAs) in the pathogenesis of cardiovascular diseases such as hypertension, as well as their diagnostic potential, has recently attracted much attention. However, target-organ damage (TOD) of hypertension remains a substantial challenge due to the lack of specific biomarkers. The present study was undertaken to identify and validate the potential of circulating miRs as novel biomarkers for TOD.
  
  
  METHODS
  We assessed the expression levels of miR-29a, miR-29b, and miR-29c in 54 patients with untreated essential hypertension and 30 healthy individuals. All patients underwent two-dimensional echocardiography, office, and ambulatory blood pressure monitoring. Quantitative reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) was used to evaluate the expression of selected miRs. The expression level of miR-29a, miR-29b, and miR-29c correlations between blood pressure and echocardiography parameters were assessed using the Spearman correlation coefficient.
  
  
  RESULTS
  We observed higher expression levels of miR-29a (31.50 ± 3.90 vs 26.55 ± 1.74; p < 0.001), miR-29b (32.31 ± 2.85vs 27.21 ± 1.59; p < 0.001), and miR-29c (31.13 ± 3.42 vs 25.96 ± 1.88; p < 0.001) in hypertensive patients compared with healthy control individuals. In hypertension patients, 25 patients were left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH), miR-29a (32.82 ± 4.06 vs 30.07 ± 3.68; p = 0.012), miR-29b (33.27 ± 2.84 vs 30.71 ± 3.04; p = 0.02), and miR-29c (32.33 ± 3.52 vs 29.55 ± 3.46; p = 0.005) in LVH patients compared with nLVH patients. We found miR-29a, miR-29b, and miR-29c expression levels showed significant positive correlations with office SBP (p = 0.579, p < 0.001; r = 0.576, p < 0.001; r = 0.598, p < 0.001), office DBP (p = 0.243, p = 0.026; r = 0.304, p = 0.005; r = 0.287, p = 0.008), office PP(r = 0.49, p < 0.001; r = 0.442, p < 0.001; r = 0.479, p < 0.001), 24 h mean SBP(p = 0.511, p < 0.001; r = 0.6, p < 0.001; r = 0.533, p < 0.001), 24 h mean DBP (p = 0. 304, p = 0.005; r = 0.283, p = 0.009; r = 0.340, p = 0.002), and 24 h mean PP (p = 0.385, p < 0.001; r = 0. 506, p < 0.001; r = 0.386, p < 0.001), respectively. The expression levels of miR-29a, miR-29b, and miR-29c were positively related to LVMI (r = 0.65, p < 0.001; r = 0.715, p < 0.001; r = 0.654, p < 0.001), respectively.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Circulating the miR-29 family may possibly represent potential non-invasive markers of hypertension and TOD in essential hypertensive patients.
authors.affiliation: a Department of Cardiology , Guangdong Cardiovascular Institute, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Coronary Disease, Guangdong General Hospital, Guangdong Academy of Medical Sciences, School of Medicine, South China University of Technology , Guangzhou , China.
authors.forename: Yuqing
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.affiliation: b Community Health Center of Liaobu County , Donguang , Guangdong , China.
authors.forename: Songtao
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Tang
authors.affiliation: a Department of Cardiology , Guangdong Cardiovascular Institute, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Coronary Disease, Guangdong General Hospital, Guangdong Academy of Medical Sciences, School of Medicine, South China University of Technology , Guangzhou , China.
authors.forename: Cheng
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.affiliation: a Department of Cardiology , Guangdong Cardiovascular Institute, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Coronary Disease, Guangdong General Hospital, Guangdong Academy of Medical Sciences, School of Medicine, South China University of Technology , Guangzhou , China.
authors.forename: Jiyan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: a Department of Cardiology , Guangdong Cardiovascular Institute, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Coronary Disease, Guangdong General Hospital, Guangdong Academy of Medical Sciences, School of Medicine, South China University of Technology , Guangzhou , China.
authors.forename: Jie
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: a Department of Cardiology , Guangdong Cardiovascular Institute, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Coronary Disease, Guangdong General Hospital, Guangdong Academy of Medical Sciences, School of Medicine, South China University of Technology , Guangzhou , China.
authors.forename: Anping
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Cai
authors.affiliation: a Department of Cardiology , Guangdong Cardiovascular Institute, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Coronary Disease, Guangdong General Hospital, Guangdong Academy of Medical Sciences, School of Medicine, South China University of Technology , Guangzhou , China.
authors.forename: Yingqing
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Feng
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000097:blood; D001794:Blood Pressure; D001795:Blood Pressure Determination; D018660:Blood Pressure Monitoring, Ambulatory; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D004452:Echocardiography; D000075222:Essential Hypertension; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006973:Hypertension / Q000097:blood* / Q000150:complications; D017379:Hypertrophy, Left Ventricular / Q000097:blood* / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000209:etiology; D008297:Male; D035683:MicroRNAs / Q000097:blood*; D008875:Middle Aged; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers; C532045:MIRN29a microRNA, human; D035683:MicroRNAs
keywords: Essential hypertension; left ventricular hypertrophy; miR-29a; miR-29b; miR-29c