Circulating miR-27b as a Biomarker of the Development and Progression of Carotid Artery Stenosis

Abstract

Objective A close relationship of microRNAs (miRNAs) with various human diseases has been widely reported, including cardiovascular disease. The current study attempted to examine the abnormal expression of miR-27b in asymptomatic carotid artery stenosis (ACAS), its diagnostic value and predictive value for the development of ACAS were also assessed. Methods Clinical serum samples were collected from both ACAS patients and healthy individuals, and levels of miR-27b in the clinical samples were detected using Real-time quantitative PCR. Cerebral ischemia events (CIEs) of patients during the 5-year follow-up were collected. The diagnostic and predictive values of serum miR-27b was assessed via plotting Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) and Kaplan-Meier curves. Multivariate cox regression analysis was performed for clinical independent index analysis. Results ACAS patients had higher levels of miR-27b than the healthy subjects. There were close association of serum miR-27b levels with total cholesterol (TC) level, absence of hypertension and degree of carotid stenosis. High levels of miR-27b could differentiate ACAS cases from healthy subjects, and predicted the high incidence of CIEs. MiR-27b could be used as an independent predictor of cerebrovascular events via multiple Cox regression analysis ( P = .031). Conclusion The high level of miR-27b can predict the occurrence of ACAS, and is closely related to the subsequent occurrence of CIEs. The present results provide evidence for circulating miR-27b as a diagnostic and prognostic marker in patients with ACAS.

miRNA Dysregulation in Cardiovascular Diseases: Current Opinion and Future Perspectives

“…In agreement with this study, He et al [ 52 ] concluded that lower plasma levels of miRNA-29b may be used as independent risk factors for the incidence of cardiovascular events (CVEs) and CAC. Lu et al [ 54 ] focused their study on the role of miR-27b: high levels of this miRNA may predict the occurrence of asymptomatic carotid artery stenosis (ACAS), with a high risk of generating subsequent cerebral ischemia events (CIEs).…”

Temporal Trends and Determinants of Stroke Risk in Patients With Medically Treated Asymptomatic Carotid Stenosis

“…After screening of 5915 unique reports and assessing the full texts of 231 for eligibility, we included 73 studies reporting 28 625 patients with ≥50% ACAS (Figure 1; Table S2). 8–10,16–85…”

Novel Therapeutic Approaches to Prevent Atherothrombotic Ischemic Stroke in Patients with Carotid Atherosclerosis

“…Some of these miRNAs differentially expressed in the circulation might be used as biomarkers of the progression of the diseases leading to ischemic stroke and their levels may help to identify patients with high risk of ischemic stroke who are eligible for carotid endarterectomy. Specifically, serum expression levels of miR-106b-5p [ 173 ], miR-92a [ 174 ], miR-19a-3p [ 175 ], miR-483-5p [ 176 ], miR-186-5p [ 177 ], miR-27b [ 178 ], and miR-342-5p [ 179 ] were found to be upregulated in asymptomatic ICAS patients versus controls, showing relatively high sensitivity and specificity in differentiating them from healthy subjects. Additionally, logistic regression analyses revealed an association between these miRNAs and the patients’ degree of carotid stenosis, as well as other vascular risk factors, such as diabetes, hypertension, and dyslipidemia.…”