Role of MicroRNA in Heart Transplant

The need for noninvasive biomarkers for diagnostic, prognostic, and therapeutic purposes is increasingly being recognized in the field of heart transplantation. MicroRNAs are a class of novel biomarkers that control gene expression and influence cellular functions, including differentiation, proliferation, and functional regulation of the immune system. They can be detected in the serum, plasma, and urine and may serve as early noninvasive biomarkers for various disease processes. Despite significant advances in heart transplantation, challenges remain in the short and long term with early graft injury and dysfunction, both cellular and antibody-mediated rejection, infections of varying types and severity, and cardiac allograft vasculopathy, which require an interventional approach for diagnosis and management. In this article, we review the current knowledge on the role of microRNAs in heart transplantation and its related complications and discuss their potential impact in future strategies to manage heart transplantation.