Aim: To explore circulating miRNA-302 family members for acute heart failure (AHF) diagnosis.
Methods: Three groups of subjects, in other words, AHF patients, AHF free patients and healthy controls were recruited. Circulating levels of miR-302 family members were measured and analyzed for AHF diagnosis.
Results: Plasma miR-302s except miR-302f were significantly elevated in AHF patients. MiR-302b-3p had the highest area under curve value of 0.87. There were strong positive correlations between miR-302s and NT-proBNP levels. MiR-302b-3p levels were significantly higher in left ventricular ejection fraction ≤45% and New York Heart Association class IV patients compared with left ventricular ejection fraction >45% and New York Heart Association class II patients, respectively.
Conclusion: Levels of circulating miR-302s, miR-302b-3p in particular, could be potentially applied for AHF diagnosis and the differentiation of disease severity.
Keywords: RT-qPCR; biomarkers; circulating miRNAs; diagnosis; heart failure; miR-302 cluster; receiver operating characteristic curve analysis.