Circulating miR-21 and TGF-b1 expression levels in patients with cardiovascular diseases

Recent works focus on the role microRNAs (miRNAs) play in regulation of cardiovascular pathology. One of the miRNAs highly expressed in cardiovascular system is miR-21. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between the expression level of miR–21 in cardiac disease and correlate with TGF-β1, one of its targets. Methods: Plasma samples from patients with CVD (cardiovascular diseases) established according to clinical and paraclinical exams were subjected to total RNAs isolation. miR-21 expression levels in patients with CVD and in healthy control subjects were quantified on ABI 7300 real-time PCR (Applied BioSystems) and normalized to RNU-43. TGF-β1 was predicted as potential target of miR-21 using MicroCosm TARGETS and quantified in TaqMan system (normalized to GAPDH). Statistical analysis was performed with GraphPad Prism. Results: Significant lower levels of miR-21 were found in CVD patients vs. controls (p<0.0001). An inverse correlation between miR-21 and TGF-β1 expression levels was noted in CVD patients. miR-21 levels vs. control were significantly different for ATHE, CAD and ATH groups (p=0.0016, 0.0058 and 0.0032 respectively) and correlated with TGF-β1 expression and cardiac overload. Conclusions: The results of this study suggest a good correlation between miR-21 and TGF-β1 in cardiovascular diseases.