Association between microRNAs and coronary collateral circulation: is there a new role for the small non-coding RNAs?

We read with interest the article entitled "Circulating microRNAs characterizing patients with insufficient coronary collateral artery function" which was recently published in the PLOS ONE journal. It was demonstrated for the first time that specific circulating microRNAs (miRNAs) can distinguish patients with sufficient from those with insufficient coronary collateral circulation. Circulating miRNAs in the plasma of patients with stable CAD and chronic CTO could provide information with regard to the coronary collateral artery capacity. However, several aspects need to be taken into consideration before the use of miRNAs in the clinical practice. A risk model that would incorporate risk factors for cardiovascular disease and miRNAs could prove to be very useful. Although an association between the levels of miRNAs and the collateral artery capacity appears promising, it still does not confirm any causal role for miRNAs. Therefore, large clinical studies in populations with CTO are warranted to evaluate this finding.