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Updated: Jul 10, 2025
In Vivo Nanovector Delivery of a Heart-specific MicroRNA-sponge
Published on: June 15, 2018
Circulating miRNA 122-5p Expression Predicts Mortality and Cardiovascular Events in Chronic Hemodialysis Patients: A
Anila Duni1, Marta Greco2,3, Pierangela Presta4
1Department of Nephrology, School of Medicine, University of Ioannina, 45110 Ioannina, Greece.
Background:
Despite patients undergoing chronic hemodialysis (HD) being notoriously prone to adverse cardiovascular (CV) events, risk prediction in this population remains challenging. miRNA 122-5p, a short, non-coding RNA predominantly involved in lipid and carbohydrate metabolism, has recently been related to the onset and progression of CV disease.
Methods:
We run a pilot, multicenter, longitudinal, observational study to evaluate the clinical significance and prognostic usefulness of circulating miRNA 122-5p in a multicentric cohort of 74 individuals on maintenance HD.
Results:
Patients displayed lower circulating miRNA 122-5p as compared to healthy controls (p = 0.004). At correlation analyses, ALT (β = 0.333; p = 0.02), E/e' (β = 0.265; p = 0.02) and CRP (β = -0.219; p = 0.041) were independent predictors of miRNA 122-5p levels. During a median follow-up of 22 months (range of 1-24), 30 subjects (40.5%) experienced a composite endpoint of all-cause mortality and fatal/non-fatal CV events. Baseline circulating miRNA 122-5p was higher in these subjects (p = 0.01) and it predicted a significantly higher risk of endpoint occurrence (Kaplan-Meier crude HR 3.192; 95% CI 1.529-6.663; p = 0.002; Cox regression adjusted HR 1.115; 95% CI 1.009-1.232; p = 0.03).
Conclusions:
Altered miRNA 122-5p levels in HD patients may reflect hepatic and CV damage and may impart important prognostic information for improving CV risk prediction in this particular setting.
