SERCA2a related miRNA miR-140-3p as a potential biomarker for chronic heart failure

Abstract Background Multiple miRNAs were reported to be associated with sarcoplasmic reticulum Ca2+-ATPase (SERCA2a) in mediating the process of heart failure. However, whether these miRNAs are relevant to chronic heart failure (CHF) is rarely reported. Methods This study was designed to explore a new biomarker from the SERCA2a related candidate miRNAs for CHF. A total of 195 blood samples from 84 CHF patients, 86 non-heart failure patients and 25 healthy subjects were collected. The circulating expression of SERCA2a related candidate miRNAs (let-7a-5p, miR-24-3p, miR-25-3p, miR-133a-3p, miR-137a-3p, miR-140-3p, miR-141-3p, miR-142-3p, miR-148a-3p, and miR-153-3p) were detected with qRT-PCR. The area under curve value, correlations between miRNAs and NT-proBNP were applied to determine the relationship between CHF and the candidate miRNAs. Results The results showed among the 10 candidate miRNAs, only let-7a-5p, miR-25-3p, and miR-140-3p were significantly increased of CHF patients. However, only miR-140-3p showed the high area under the curve (AUC) value (ROC = 0.8873) and strong positive correlations (r = 0.5113) between miR-140-3p levels and NT-proBNP concentration. The level of miR-140-3p in LVEF < 45% of CHF patients was higher than in LVEF > 45%. However, there was no significant difference between hypertension and non-hypertension of the levels of miR-140-3p in CHF patients. Interestingly, the level of miR-140-3p was higher in NYHA IV CHF patients than in NYHA II or III. More important, the miR-140-3p level also declined when the heart function of NYHA IV patients was improved after treatment. Conclusions These results indicated circulation levels of miR-140-3p is related to the severity of chronic heart failure, and miR-140-3p may be an important biomarker for heart failure with reduced ejection fraction.