The circulating microRNA, key biomarkers for the diagnosis of patients with stable coronary heart disease

Having specific biomarkers that help improve decision-making and develop new therapeutic strategies in case of coronary heart disease is key, and in this line researchers from the CIBER of Cardiovascular Diseases (CIBERCV) have fostered a study that explores the diagnostic capacity of circulating microRNAs in patients suspected of stable coronary heart disease.
The researchers David de Gonzalo Calvo and Vicenta Llorente Cortés – from the group of Lipids and Cardiovascular Pathology – and Francesc Carreras Costa – from the Clinical and Translational Cardiology group – both from the CIBERCV of the Sant Pau Biomedical Research Institute (IIB Sant Pau) and the Biomedical Research Institute of Barcelona (IIBB-CSIC) have published this study in the prestigious Journal of Internal Medicine. A study that is based on an approach to the actual clinical practice in which the potential of circulating microRNA as biomarkers of stable coronary heart disease in certain groups of patients is revealed.

A fundamental role in physiological and pathological processesMicroRNAs are small non-coding RNAs involved in gene regulation and play a fundamental role in physiological and pathological processes, finding not only the cellular interior, but also in body fluids such as blood, so they are key as non-biomarkers Invasive for diagnosis, prognosis and even therapeutic evaluation of diseases. Thanks to this research, the plasma levels of a 10 microRNA panel previously described by CIBERCV researchers as indicators of coronary atherosclerosis have been analyzed in patients suspected of stable coronary heart disease evaluated in the Cardiac Imaging Unit of the Hospital of the Holy Cross and Saint Paul.

According to David de Gonzalo, “our study highlights the potential of circulating microRNAs as biomarkers of stable coronary heart disease, and in this particular case, the results suggest that they are useful biomarkers in certain subgroups of patients.”

In this way, it seems that the utility of microRNA is superior in subject-specific phenotypes, so that “our work supports the incorporation of new molecular indicators in clinical decision making, thereby facilitating medical attention personalized “, says researcher David de Gonzalo.

In this work, researchers collected plasma samples from 200 patients sent for coronary angiography classified according to their severity, analyzing a panel of 10 microRNAs previously associated with stable coronary heart disease. After a comprehensive adjustment that included cardiovascular risk factors, drug use and protein-based biomarkers, several circulating microRNAs were reversedly associated with the extent and severity of atherosclerosis. The detailed analysis as biomarkers suggested the poor diagnostic capacity of the microRNA in terms of discrimination, evaluated both separately and in combination with clinical history, in the entire population. However, its inclusion in decision trees generated models that improved the classification of cases and controls in certain subgroups of patients.

Reference article:De Gonzalo-Calvo, Vilades, Martínez-Camblor, Vea, Nasarre, Sanchez Vega, Leta, Carreras, Llorente-Cortés. Circulating microRNAs in suspected stable coronary artery disease: A coronary computed tomography angiography study DOI: 10.1111/joim.12921