Myocardium miRNA Analysis Reveals Potential Biomarkers of Sudden Coronary Death in Rats

This study aims to provide potential biomarkers and reveal the molecular mechanism of sudden coronary death (SCD). Rat models of atherosclerotic death (ASD), coronary atherosclerosis (AS), and acute myocardial ischemia (AMI) and sham groups were established via the gavage of high-fat emulsion and left coronary artery ligation. The myocardium was collected, and transcriptome sequencing was performed. Differentially expressed miRNAs (DEmiRNAs) were identified using edeR software. The target genes were predicted using TargetScan, and functional enrichment analysis was performed via KEGG. Then, an miRNA-mRNA interaction network was constructed using Cytoscape. The key miRNAs with biomarker potential were identified using LASSO regression. A total of 217, 224, and 86 DEmiRNAs were identified in the ASD, AS, and AMI groups compared with the sham group, respectively. The Ras and Rap1 pathways were mainly expressed in ASD. The β-alanine and sphingolipid metabolisms were expressed in AMI. Finally, miR-106b, miR-195, miR-33, miR-652, miR-466b, and miR-6321 were identified as biomarkers of ASD. MiR-205, miR-877, miR-325, and miR-344b were identified as biomarkers of AMI. miR542-Atg12 was involved in the RIG-I-like receptor signaling pathway, miR6328-Gstz1 was involved in tyrosine metabolism, and miR483-Dusp5 was involved in the MAPK signaling pathway. This study provides a reference for the identification of SCD in forensic pathology.