MicroRNA as significant biomarkers of cerebrovascular atherosclerosis

Cover Page

Cite item

Full Text

Abstract

Introduction. Carotid atherosclerosis (CA) is one of the main causes of ischaemic stroke. MicroRNA is a relatively new group of biomarkers, some of which are associated with atherogenesis.

The aim of the study was to evaluate the expression of several microRNAs in patients with cerebrovascular disease, depending on the severity of CA.

Materials and methods. The study included 50 people (median age 66 [61; 71] years, 58% men) with cerebrovascular disease secondary to CA. The patients were divided into two groups: 16 patients (32%) had ≥70% internal carotid artery (ICA) stenosis (main group), while the remaining 34 patients had <70% stenosis and formed the comparison group. Expression of the following microRNAs was measured: miR-126-5p, miR-126-3p, miR-29-5p, miR-29-3p, miR-33a-5p, miR-33a-3p, miR-21-5p and miR-21-3p.

Results. Compared to the comparison group, patients with a high degree of CA had reduced expression of miR-126-5p/-3p (4.8 and 5.9 vs. 8.5 and 7.6, respectively; p < 0.001) and miR-29-3p (7.6 vs. 10.3; p < 0.001), while miR-33a-5p expression was elevated (46.3 vs. 40.0; p < 0.05). Cluster analysis confirmed typical expression patterns of these microRNAs in patients with varying degrees of ICA stenosis. Significant negative correlations were also found between the degree of stenosis and expression of miR-126-5p (ρ = –0.83; р < 0.05), miR-126-3p (ρ = –0.64; р < 0.05) and miR-29-3p (ρ = –0.62; р < 0.05).

Conclusion. Based on an analysis of patients with cerebral atherosclerosis, the studied microRNAs can be divided into proatherogenic (miR-33a-5p/-3p) and atheroprotective (miR-126-5p/-3p, miR-29-3p, and mir-21-5p/-3p). These biomarkers can be diagnostically useful in predicting the risk of both CA progression and acute cerebrovascular accidents, yet prospective studies are required.

About the authors

Anton A. Raskurazhev

Research Center of Neurology

Author for correspondence.
Email: rasckey@live.com
ORCID iD: 0000-0003-0522-767X

Cand. Sci. (Med.), neurologist, researcher, 1st Neurology department

Russian Federation, Moscow

Alla A. Shabalina

Research Center of Neurology

Email: ashabalina@yandex.ru
ORCID iD: 0000-0001-9604-7775

D. Sci. (Med.), leading researcher, Head, Laboratory of hemorheology, hemostasis and pharmacokinetics (with clinical laboratory diagnostics)

Russian Federation, Moscow

Polina I. Kuznetsova

Research Center of Neurology

Email: angioneurology0@gmail.com
ORCID iD: 0000-0002-4626-6520

Cand. Sci. (Med.), neurologist, researcher, 1st Neurology department

Russian Federation, Moscow

Marine M. Tanashyan

Research Center of Neurology

Email: M_Tanashyan2004@mail.ru
ORCID iD: 0000-0002-5883-8119

D. Sci. (Med.), Prof., Corresponding member of RAS, Deputy Director for science, Head, 1st Neurological department

Russian Federation, Moscow

References

  1. Song P., Fang Z., Wang H. et al. Global and regional prevalence, burden, and risk factors for carotid atherosclerosis: a systematic review, meta-analysis, and modelling study. Lancet Glob Health. 2020;8(5):e721–e729. doi: 10.1016/S2214-109X(20)30117-0. PMID: 32353319.
  2. Wu M.Y., Li C.J., Hou M.F., Chu P.Y. New insights into the role of inflammation in the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis. Int J Mol Sci. 2017;18(10):2034. doi: 10.3390/ijms18102034. PMID: 28937652.
  3. Tanashyan M.M., Raskurazhev A.A., Shabalina A.A. et al. [Biomarkers of cerebral atherosclerosis: the capabilities of early diagnosis and prognosis of individual risk]. Annals of clinical and experimental neurology. 2015;9(3):20–25. (In Russ.)
  4. Tanashyan M.M., Raskurazhev A.A., Shabalina A.A., Lagoda O.V. Sposob diagnostiki techenija “asimptomnogo” karotidnogo ateroskleroza. Patent RF, no. 2592237, 2016. (In Russ.)
  5. Raskurazhev A.A., Tanashyan M.M. [The role of micro-RNA in cerebrovascular disease]. Annals of clinical and experimental neurology. 2019;13(3):41–46. doi: 10.25692/ACEN.2019.3.6. (In Russ.)
  6. Tajbakhsh A., Bianconi V., Pirro M. et al. Efferocytosis and atherosclerosis: regulation of phagocyte function by MicroRNAs. Trends Endocrinol. Metab. 2019;30(9):672–683. doi: 10.1016/j.tem.2019.07.006. PMID: 31383556.
  7. Raskurazhev A.A., Tanashyan M.M., Shabalina A.A. et al. Micro-RNA in patients with carotid atherosclerosis. Hum Physiol. 2020;46:880–885. doi: 10.1134/S0362119720080113.
  8. Howard D.P.J., Gaziano L., Rothwell P.M., Oxford Vascular Study. Risk of stroke in relation to degree of asymptomatic carotid stenosis: a population-based cohort study, systematic review, and meta-analysis. Lancet Neurol. 2021;20(3):193-202. doi: 10.1016/S1474-4422(20)30484-1. PMID: 33609477.
  9. Kim S.H., Kim G.J., Umemura T. et al. Aberrant expression of plasma microRNA-33a in an atherosclerosis-risk group. Mol Biol Rep. 2017;44(1):79–88. doi: 10.1007/s11033-016-4082-z. PMID: 27664032.
  10. Marquart T.J., Allen R.M., Ory D.S., Baldán A. miR-33 links SREBP-2 induction to repression of sterol transporters. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2010;107(27):12228–32. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1005191107. PMID: 20566875.
  11. Horie T., Baba O., Kuwabara Y. et al. MicroRNA-33 deficiency reduces the progression of atherosclerotic plaque in ApoE-/- mice. J Am Heart Assoc. 2012;1(6):e003376. doi: 10.1161/JAHA.112.003376. PMID: 23316322.
  12. Kim J., Yoon H., Horie T. et al. microRNA-33 Regulates ApoE lipidation and amyloid-β metabolism in the brain. J Neurosci. 2015;35(44):14717-26. doi: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.2053-15.2015. PMID: 26538644.
  13. Bretschneider M., Busch B., Mueller D. et al. Activated mineralocorticoid receptor regulates micro-RNA-29b in vascular smooth muscle cells. FASEB J. 2016;30(4):1610–1622. doi: 10.1096/fj.15-271254. PMID: 26728178.
  14. Silambarasan M., Tan J.R., Karolina D.S. et al. MicroRNAs in hyperglycemia induced endothelial cell dysfunction. Int J Mol Sci. 2016;17(4):518. doi: 10.3390/ijms17040518. PMID: 27070575.
  15. Huang Y., Li J., Chen J. et al. The association of circulating MiR-29b and interleukin-6 with subclinical atherosclerosis. Cell Physiol Biochem. 2017;44:1537–1544. doi: 10.1159/000485649. PMID: 29197872.
  16. Ulrich V., Rotllan N., Araldi E. et al. Chronic miR-29 antagonism promotes favorable plaque remodeling in atherosclerotic mice. EMBO Mol Med. 2016;8(6):643–653. doi: 10.15252/emmm.201506031. PMID: 27137489.
  17. Deng X., Chu X., Wang P. et al. MicroRNA-29a-3p reduces TNFα-induced endothelial dysfunction by targeting tumor necrosis factor receptor 1. Mol Ther Nucleic Acids. 2019;18:903–915. doi: 10.1016/j.omtn.2019.10.014. PMID: 31760375.
  18. Yu B., Jiang Y., Wang X., Wang S. An integrated hypothesis for miR-126 in vascular disease. Med Res Arch. 2020;8(5):2133. doi: 10.18103/mra.v8i5.2133. PMID: 34222652.
  19. Harris T.A., Yamakuchi M., Ferlito M. et al. MicroRNA-126 regulates endothelial expression of vascular cell adhesion molecule 1. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2008;105(5):1516–1521. doi: 10.1073/pnas.0707493105. PMID: 18227515.
  20. Canfrán-Duque A., Rotllan N., Zhang X. et al. Macrophage deficiency of miR-21 promotes apoptosis, plaque necrosis, and vascular inflammation during atherogenesis. EMBO Mol Med. 2017;9(9):1244–1262. doi: 10.15252/emmm.201607492. PMID: 28674080.
  21. Jin H., Li D.Y., Chernogubova E. et al. Local Delivery of miR-21 Stabilizes Fibrous caps in vulnerable atherosclerotic lesions. Mol Ther. 2018;26(4):1040–1055. doi: 10.1016/j.ymthe.2018.01.011. PMID: 29503197.
  22. Cengiz M., Yavuzer S., Kılıçkıran Avcı B. et al. Circulating miR-21 and eNOS in subclinical atherosclerosis in patients with hypertension. Clin Exp Hypertens. 2015;37(8):643–649. doi: 10.3109/10641963.2015.1036064. PMID: 26114349.

Supplementary files

Supplementary Files
Action
1. JATS XML
Download
2. Fig. 1. Leukocyte microRNA expression level in patients, depending on the degree of carotid stenosis (shown as a combined violin plot [data distribution and probability density] and box plot [rectangle — interquartile interval, horizontal line — median, vertical lines — spread]).

Download (180KB)
Indexing metadata
3. Fig. 2. Heat map of the relative microRNA expression. The blue indicates lower levels of expression and the yellow indicates higher levels. The “Stenosis” column is the patient distribution according to the degree of carotid stenosis (the darker colour corresponds to ≥70% stenosis). The provided dendrograms reflect the process of hierarchical clustering.

Download (118KB)
Indexing metadata
4. Fig. 3. Correlation analysis. The cells contain Spearman's rank correlation coefficient (ρ), the cell colour depends on the direction (blue is negative, yellow is positive, green is close to 0) of the correlation, as well as its significance (intensity of the corresponding shade). Non-significant correlations are crossed out (p > 0.05).

Download (197KB)
Indexing metadata

Copyright (c) 2022 Raskurazhev A.A., Shabalina A.A., Kuznetsova P.I., Tanashyan M.M.

Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

This website uses cookies

You consent to our cookies if you continue to use our website.

About Cookies