Original Article Association of circular RNA hsa_circ_0124644 and incidence and severity of coronary heart disease in premenopausal women

Background: Coronary heart disease (CHD) is a prevalent cause of mortality, and its incidence has exhibited an upward trajectory in recent times, particularly among younger individuals. Circular RNAs (circRNAs) have emerged as promising biomarkers for early detection in various cancer types. The objective of this study was to investigate the correlation between circ_0124644 and coronary heart disease (CHD) in premenopausal women. Methods: A total of 60 premenopausal women were selected for the CHD group, while another 60 were chosen for the non-CHD group, with the mean age of 50.89 +/- 3.79 years. Subsequently, Pearson analysis was employed to examine the correlation between various indicators. Quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) was employed for the detection of hsa_circ_0124644 expression in tissues obtained from patients. The receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve's area under the curve (AUC) was utilized to establish the diagnostic cut-offs. To examine the impact of hsa_circ_0124644 on CHD, multivariate logistic regression and multiplicative analysis were conducted. Results: The findings from the Pearson analysis showed a significant correlation between the expression of hsacirc-0124644 and the severity of CHD in premenopausal women (P<0.001, r=0.943**). Further validation through qPCR demonstrated that the levels of hsa_circ_0124644 expression in peripheral blood leukocytes were significantly elevated in premenopausal women with CHD compared to those without CHD (all P<0.05). Moreover, there was a statistically significant association between the expression of hsa-circ-0124644 and a higher occurrence of CHD in premenopausal females (P<0.001). Additionally, the AUC of ROC curve was found to be 0.753, with a threshold of hsa-circ-0124644 expression at 0.509, resulting in a sensitivity of 100% and specificity of 50.9%. Conclusions: The findings of this study indicate a plausible correlation between hsa-circ-0124644 and the etiology and advancement of CHD in premenopausal females, thereby underscoring its prospective application as a biomarker for CHD.