MicroRNAs in coronary heart disease: Ready to enter the clinical arena?

Abstract

Coronary artery disease (CAD) and its complication remain the leading cause of mortality in industrialized countries despite great advances in terms of diagnosis, prognosis, and treatment options. MicroRNAs (miRNAs), small noncoding RNAs, act as posttranscriptional gene expression modulators and have been implicated as key regulators in several physiological and pathological processes linked to CAD. Circulating miRNAs have been evaluated as promising novel biomarkers of CAD, acute coronary syndromes, and acute myocardial infarction, with prognostic implications. Several challenges related to technical aspects, miRNAs normalization, drugs interaction, and quality reporting of statistical multivariable analysis of the miRNAs observational studies remain unresolved. MicroRNA-based therapies in cardiovascular diseases are not ready yet for human trials but definitely appealing. Through this review we will provide clinicians with a concise overview of the pros and cons of microRNAs.