Increased Expression of miR-146a in Valvular Tissue From Patients With Aortic Valve Stenosis

Jana Petrkova; Jana Borucka; Martin Kalab; Petra Klevcova; Jaroslav Michalek; Milos Taborsky; Martin Petrek

doi:10.3389/fcvm.2019.00086

Increased Expression of miR-146a in Valvular Tissue From Patients With Aortic Valve Stenosis

Front Cardiovasc Med. 2019 Jun 26:6:86. doi: 10.3389/fcvm.2019.00086. eCollection 2019.

Authors

Jana Petrkova^{1

2}, Jana Borucka^{1

3}, Martin Kalab⁴, Petra Klevcova¹, Jaroslav Michalek⁵, Milos Taborsky², Martin Petrek^{1

3

6}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Pathological Physiology, Faculty of Medicine Dentistry, Palacky University, Olomouc, Czechia.
² Internal Medicine I - Cardiology, Palacky University and University Hospital, Olomouc, Czechia.
³ Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry, Institute of Molecular and Translational Medicine, Palacky University, Olomouc, Czechia.
⁴ Department of Cardiac Surgery, Palacky University and University Hospital, Olomouc, Czechia.
⁵ Department of Clinical and Molecular Pathology, Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry, Palacky University, Olomouc, Czechia.
⁶ Laboratory of Cardiogenomics, University Hospital Olomouc, Olomouc, Czechia.

Abstract

miR-146a has been implicated in the regulation of the immune response as well as in inflammatory process of atherosclerosis. In the present study, we have investigated the expression of miR-146a and its targets, TLR4 a IRAK1, in aortic valve stenosis. A total of 58 patients with aortic stenosis (non- and atherosclerotic; tissue obtained during standard aortic valve replacement) were enrolled. The relative expression of mir-146a was higher in valvular tissue from patients with atherosclerosis compared to those without atherosclerosis (p = 0.01). Number of the IRAK1 and TLR4 transcripts did not differ between the investigated groups. There was a trend toward elevation of miR-146a expression in context of inflammatory infiltrate observed in the valvular tissue from patients with atherosclerosis (p = 0.06). In conclusion, in line with the acknowledged role of miR-146a in atherosclerotic inflammation, our data suggest it may be extended to the specific location of aortic valves in aortic stenosis.

Keywords: IRAK1; TLR4; aortic stenosis; epigenetics; microRNA.