Related Experiment Video
Updated: Dec 23, 2025
Digital PCR for Quantifying Circulating MicroRNAs in Acute Myocardial Infarction and Cardiovascular Disease
Published on: July 3, 2018
Circulating microRNA profiles based on direct S-Poly(T)Plus assay for detection of coronary heart disease
Mingyang Su1,2, Yanqin Niu1, Quanjin Dang1
1Shenzhen Key Laboratory of Microbial Genetic Engineering, Vascular Disease Research Center, College of Life Sciences and Oceanography, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Regional Immunity and Diseases, Carson International Cancer Center, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen, Guangdong, China.
Insights
This study identifies six specific microRNAs (miRNAs) in plasma as accurate, non-invasive biomarkers for diagnosing coronary heart disease (CHD). The novel S-Poly(T)Plus method enhances diagnostic accuracy for this leading cause of heart disease.
Area of Science:
- Biomarkers
- Molecular Diagnostics
- Cardiovascular Research
Background:
- Coronary heart disease (CHD) is a major global cause of mortality.
- Current diagnostic methods for CHD lack sufficient accuracy and invasiveness.
- Circulating microRNAs (miRNAs) show potential as non-invasive biomarkers for CHD diagnosis.
Purpose of the Study:
- To identify novel circulating microRNAs (miRNAs) as sensitive and specific biomarkers for coronary heart disease (CHD).
- To evaluate the diagnostic performance of identified miRNAs using the direct S-Poly(T)Plus method.
- To establish a robust miRNA-based diagnostic panel for CHD.
Main Methods:
- Employed the direct S-Poly(T)Plus method for RNA extraction-free miRNA profiling in 203 CHD patients and 144 controls.
- Identified 12 differentially expressed miRNAs between CHD patients and high-risk controls.
- Validated a panel of six miRNAs (miR-15b-5p, miR-29c-3p, miR-199a-3p, miR-320e, miR-361-5p, miR-378b) in independent cohorts.
Main Results:
- The six-miRNA panel achieved a sensitivity of 92.8% and specificity of 89.5% for CHD diagnosis.
- The diagnostic performance was validated with an Area Under the Curve (AUC) of 0.971.
- Plasma fractionation revealed minimal miRNA presence within extracellular vesicles (EVs).
Conclusions:
- A panel of six specific circulating miRNAs can accurately diagnose coronary heart disease (CHD).
- The direct S-Poly(T)Plus method offers a robust and accurate approach for miRNA-based disease diagnosis.
- These findings support the use of circulating miRNAs as reliable, non-invasive biomarkers for CHD detection.
Abstract:
Coronary heart disease (CHD) is one of the leading causes of heart-associated deaths worldwide. Conventional diagnostic techniques are ineffective and insufficient to diagnose CHD with higher accuracy. To use the circulating microRNAs (miRNAs) as non-invasive, specific and sensitive biomarkers for diagnosing of CHD, 203 patients with CHD and 144 age-matched controls (126 high-risk controls and 18 healthy volunteers) were enrolled in this study. The direct S-Poly(T)Plus method was used to identify novel miRNAs expression profile of CHD patients and to evaluate their clinical diagnostic value. This method is an RNA extraction-free and robust quantification method, which simplifies procedures, reduces variations, in particular increases the accuracy. Twelve differentially expressed miRNAs between CHD patients and high-risk controls were selected, and their performances were evaluated in validation set-1 with 96 plasma samples. Finally, six (miR-15b-5p, miR-29c-3p, miR-199a-3p, miR-320e, miR-361-5p and miR-378b) of these 12 miRNAs were verified in validation set-2 with a sensitivity of 92.8% and a specificity of 89.5%, and the AUC was 0.971 (95% confidence interval, 0.948-0.993, P < .001) in a large cohort for CHD patients diagnosis. Plasma fractionation indicated that only a small amount of miRNAs were assembled into EVs. Direct S-Poly(T)Plus method could be used for disease diagnosis and 12 unique miRNAs could be used for diagnosis of CHD.
