Diagnostic value of miR-92a in asymptomatic carotid artery stenosis patients and its ability to predict cerebrovascular events

• Published in: Diagnostic pathology Vol. 15; no. 1; p. 74
• Main Authors: Chen, Gang, Gao, Jianwei, Sheng, Yuguo, Han, Xinqiang, Ji, Xingang, Zhao, Mengpeng, Wu, Jian
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England BioMed Central Ltd 10.06.2020; BioMed Central; BMC
• Subjects: Aged; Analysis; Asymptomatic carotid artery stenosis; Atherosclerosis; Biomarkers; Biomarkers - blood; Carotid arteries; Carotid artery; Carotid Stenosis - blood; Carotid Stenosis - complications; Carotid Stenosis - diagnosis; Cerebrovascular Disorders - etiology; Cerebrovascular Disorders - prevention & control; Cerebrovascular events; Chi-square test; Diagnosis; Diagnostic systems; Early Diagnosis; Evaluation; Fasting; Female; Gene expression; Glucose; Humans; Hypertension; Male; Medical research; Medicine, Experimental; MicroRNA; microRNA-92a; MicroRNAs - blood; Middle Aged; miRNA; Regression analysis; Ribonucleic acid; Risk analysis; Risk factors; RNA; Software; Statistical tests; Stenosis; Stroke; Ultrasonic imaging; Veins & arteries; Taiwan; United States > US; microRNA-92a; Cerebrovascular events; Diagnosis; Asymptomatic carotid artery stenosis
• ISSN: 1746-1596; 1746-1596
• DOI: 10.1186/s13000-020-00987-z

Early diagnosis of asymptomatic carotid artery stenosis (ACAS) is important to prevent the incidence of cerebrovascular events. This study aimed to investigate the circulating expression of microRNA-92a (miR-92a) in ACAS patients and evaluate its diagnostic value for ACAS and predictive value for cerebrovascular events. Circulating expression of miR-92a was measured using quantitative real-time PCR. Chi-square test was used to analyze the association of miR-92a with ACAS patients' clinical characteristics. A receiver operating characteristic (ROC) was used to evaluate the diagnostic value of miR-92a, and the Kaplan-Meier method and Cox regression analysis were used to assess the predictive value of miR-92a for cerebrovascular events. Serum expression of miR-92a was higher in ACAS patients than that in the healthy controls (P <  0.001), and associated with patients' degree of carotid stenosis (P = 0.013). The elevated miR-92a expression could distinguish ACAS patients from healthy individual, and was an independent predictive factor for the occurrence of cerebrovascular events (P = 0.015). The data from this study indicated that circulating increased miR-92a may serve as a noninvasive diagnostic biomarker for ACAS and a potential risk factor for the future onset of cerebrovascular events.