Increased Plasma Level of miR-210 as a Potential Diagnostic Marker for Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease Induced Pulmonary Hypertension.

Abstract

Pulmonary hypertension (PH) is a commonly observed complication of chronic obstructive pulmo-nary disease (COPD) which may lead to poor prognosis of the disease. The present study aims to explore the roles of circulating miR-210 for the early diagnosis of COPD included PH. We included 80 patients with COPD including PH, 80 patients with COPD but without PH, and 80 healthy subjects as the study population. The plasma of each patient was collected, and the expressions of miR-210 in different groups were compared by RT-qPCR method. The diagnostic value of miR-210 was evaluated by ROC curve, and the correlation between the plasma level of miR-210 and systolic pulmonary artery pressure (SPAP) as well as pulmonary function index forced expiratory volume in the first second (FEV1) and forced vital capacity (FVC) were also analyzed. MiR-210 was significantly increased in plasma of COPD patients with PH compared with the COPD patients without PH. The results of ROC analysis showed that miR-210 is a sensitive biomarker to distinguish COPD + PH patients from the COPD patients. Moreover, the expression level of miR-210 in the plasma was positively correlated with the SPAP and negatively correlated with the FEV1 and FVC of the COPD + PH patients. MiR-210 was up-regulated in plasma of patients with COPD included PH, and miR-210 may serve as an early diagnostic marker for the disease.