Investigation of possible effects of microRNAs involved in regulation of lipid metabolism in the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis.

Due to being stable in the circulatory system plasma miRNAs have been detected in various diseases including coronary artery disease (CAD) which is the major cause of mortality and morbidity worldwide. Atherosclerosis is the major cause of CAD. The first and most important event in the progression of atherosclerosis is endothelial dysfunction and accumulation of the lipids in the arterial wall. Recent studies have shown that different expression levels of lipid metabolism-related miRNAs associated with the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis. Therefore, in this current study, we aimed to investigate the possible effects of lipid metabolism-related miRNAs in plasma of patients with CAD. miRNA analysis was performed by high throughput quantitative PCR method using RNA samples isolated from 46 patients with CAD and 43 non-CAD or control. Data were analyzed using SPSS software version 17 and GeneGlobe Data Analysis Center by Qiagen. Among 40 miRNAs, 4 miRNAs were markedly up-regulated while 4 miRNAs were down-regulated in patients with CAD compared to the control group. The results have shown that, hsa-mir-144-3p, hsa-miR-222-5p and hsa-miR-133a-5p were statistically different in the patient with CAD compared to the control (p = 0.040, 0.030 and 0.005 respectively). Increased expression of hsa-mir-144-3p, hsa-miR-222-5p and hsa-miR-133a-5p would have associated with presence of the CAD. Furthermore, we suggested that these miRNAs might have been useful markers for early detection of the CAD.