Serum microRNAs profile from genome-wide serves as a fingerprint for diagnosis of acute myocardial infarction and angina pectoris

BACKGROUND: In order to identify miRNAs expression profiling from genome-wide screen for diagnosis of acute myocardial infarction (AMI) and angina pectoris (AP), we investigated the altered profile of serum microRNAs in AMI and AP patients at a relative early stage. METHODS: Serum samples were taken from 117 AMI patients, 182 AP patients and 100 age-and gender-matched controls. An initial screening of miRNAs expression was performed by Solexa sequencing. Differential expression was validated using RT-qPCR in individuals samples, the samples were arranged in a two-phase selection and validation. RESULTS: The Solexa sequencing results demonstrated marked upregulation of serum miRNAs in AMI patients compared with controls. RT-qPCR analysis identified a profile of six serum miRNAs (miR-1, miR-134, miR-186, miR-208, miR-223 and miR-499) as AMI biomarkers. MiR-208 and miR-499 were elevated higher in AP cases than in AMI cases. The ROC curves indicated a panel of six miRNAs has a great potential to offer sensitive and specific diagnostic tests for AMI. More especially, the panel of six miRNAs presents significantly differences between the AMI and AP cases. CONCLUSIONS: The six-miRNAs signature identified from genome-wide serum miRNA expression profiling may serves as a fingerprint for AMI and AP diagnosis.