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Updated: Jan 27, 2026

Porcine Model of Infrarenal Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm
Published on: November 21, 2019
Differential micro-RNA expression in diabetic patients with abdominal aortic aneurysm
Fabien Lareyre1, Marc Clément2, Claudine Moratal3
1Department of Vascular Surgery, University Hospital of Nice, France; Université Côte d'Azur, CHU, Inserm U1065, C3M, Nice, France; Division of Cardiovascular Medicine, Department of Medicine, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, CB20 SZ, UK.
Objectives:
The potential implication of micro-RNAs (miRs) in the negative association between diabetes and abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) has so far never been addressed. The aim of this study was to compare miR expression between diabetic and non-diabetic patients with AAA.
Methods:
Ten diabetic patients were prospectively included and compared to 10 age- and sex-matched non-diabetic patients with infrarenal AAA. A profiling analysis of 752 human miRs was performed from peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) using miRCURY LNA Universal RT microRNA PCR (Exiqon- Qiagen®). miR that showed significant differential expression (P < 0.05) were selected and further analyzed in the entire cohort in sera, plasma and aneurysmal aortic tissues.
Results:
Four miRs were significantly differentially expressed in PBMCs of diabetic patients compared to non-diabetics: 3 were upregulated (miR-144-3p, 20a-5p and 188-3p) and 1 downregulated (miR-548k). miR-144-3p and miR-548k were also increased in aneurysmal tissue and miR-20a-5p was increased in serum. The expression of miR-20a-5p in PBMCs was correlated with fructosamine concentration (r = 0.62, p = 0.006).
Conclusions:
Even if further studies are required to determine their direct role in AAA, these miRs could represent interesting new targets.
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