Plasma microRNAs serve as potential biomarkers for abdominal aortic aneurysm.

OBJECTIVES

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.

CONCLUSION

Our results suggest that plasma miR-191-3p, miR-455-3p and miR-1281 may be used as potential diagnosis biomarkers for AAA.