Diagnostic potential of circulating micro RNA hsa-miR-320 in patients of high altitude induced deep vein thrombosis: An Indian study

Abstract

IntroductionVenous thrombo-embolism (VTE) is the third leading cardiovascular disease in world. Although, onset of VTE is linked to several established genetic and acquired risk factors, exposure to high altitude (HA) poses an additional and independent risk factor. There is a need for reliable molecular marker for early and accurate diagnosis of VTE. Micro RNAs (MiRNAs) have recently emerged as class of promising biomarkers in various diseases. Present study aimed to investigate diagnostic potential of selected miRNAs for HA induced VTE (HA-VTE). MethodBlood was collected from four group of subjects; sea level control, sea level VTE patients, high altitude control and high altitude VTE patients. Five potential miRNAs were investigated by quantitative real-time (qRT-PCR) profiling using specific miRNA assays and comparisons were done across groups. We further examined role of differentially expressed miRNAs in regulating genes of pathways involved in VTE and HA induced hypoxic stress using in-silico bioinformatics tools. ResultsOur results showed that miRNA levels of hsa-miR-320 were significantly up-regulated in patients of VTE both at sea level as well HA in comparison with respective controls. Also, hsa-miR-195 and hsa-miR-103a showed significant up-regulation in VTE patients at sea level. Further, in-silico analysis demonstrated that hsa-miR-320 regulates a large number of VTE-linked and HA-hypoxia linked pathways. ConclusionThe present study demonstrated for the first time that hsa-miR-320 plays a key role in pathogenesis of VTE during high altitude induced hypoxic exposure. Also, our results showed that hsa-miR-195 and hsa-miR-103a play an important role in VTE pathophysiology at sea level.