Circulating lncRNA ANRIL in the Serum of Patients with Ischemic Stroke

The current study aims to investigate the expression of antisense noncoding RNA in the INK4 locus (ANRIL) in serum of patients with ischemic stroke and its correlation with high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) and matrix metalloproteinase-9 (MMP-9).

Real time PCR analysis was carried out to evaluate the level of ANRIL. The levels of hs-CRP and MMP-9 were evaluated using ELISA. ROC analysis was carried out to evaluate the diagnostic value of ANRIL, hs-CRP and MMP-9. Pearson's correlation analysis was carried out to evaluate the expression of ANRIL in serum of hs-CRP and MMP-9.

Our data showed that the expression levels of ANRIL, hs-CRP, and MMP-9 in serum of the patients were significantly higher than those of the control group (p < 0.05). Pearson's correlation analysis showed that there was a positive correlation between the expression of ANRIL and hs-CRP and MMP-9. Meanwhile, serum levels of ANRIL, hs-CRP, and MMP-9 in patients with severe neurological deficits were significantly higher than those in patients with moderate and mild neurological deficits (p < 0.05). Moreover, the expression levels of ANRIL, hs-CRP, and MMP-9 in serum of patients with different degrees of neurological impairment have different correlations. More importantly, ROC analysis demonstrated that the combined use of ANRIL, hs-CRP, and MMP-9 demonstrated higher diagnostic value for stroke patients.

Serum ANRIL may be used as a molecular marker in the diagnosis of ischemic stroke and may play an important role in the pathogenesis and development of ischemic stroke in cooperation with hs-CRP and MMP-9.