Correlation Of Plasma MicroRNA 365 Level With Hyperlipidemia

Introduction: To date, cardiovascular disease mortality is the first reason of urban and rural residents’ total mortality in China. Hyperlipidemia plays an important role in the development and progression of atherosclerosis. Micro RNA(mi RNA) which negatively regulates gene expression at the post-transcriptional level has been shown to affect lipid metabolism. However, little is known about the circulating levels of mi RNA in hyperlipidemia patients and their relationship with hyperlipidemia.Method: Participants in this study were enrolled from Qingdao Municipal Hospital, consisting of fifteen hyperlipidemia patients and ten healthy control subjects. Patients aged from 40-60 years were selected and interviewed, to establish their individual medical histories and lifestyle habits. Hyperlipidemia was defined as a TC level of ≥6.22 mmol/L and/or a TG level of ≥1.16 mmol/L, and/or a LDL-C level of ≥4.14 mmol/L on the basis of The China Adult Dyslipidemia Prevention Guide. Patients with histories of significant concomitant diseases including cancer, hepatic failure, renal failure, hepatitis, CAD, cardiomyopathy, congenital heart disease and diabetes were not included. Patients with hyperlipidemia were given consecutive treatments for one month of lipid lowering therapy with atorvastatin(20 mg day-1). Quantitative reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction was used to analyze the plasma level of mi R-365 in 10 healthy controls and 15 hyperlipidemia patients before and after one month of lipid lowering treatment with atorvastatin.Result: 1. The mean plasma level of mi R-365 was significantly increased in statin-free patients with hyperlipidemia(n=15) compared with healthy controls(mean: 7.26 vs. 0.23, P = 0.001). The mean expression level for mi R-365 was obviously higher in statin-treatment patients with hyperlipidemia(n=15) than in the control group(mean: 2.50 vs. 0.23, P=0.002). 2. The plasma level of mi R-365 was strongly decreased after one-month of statin treatment(mean: 7.14 vs. 2.50, P=0.001) in hyperlipidemiapatients. 3. There was a positive correlation between the plasma level of mi R-365 and the TC levels in statin-free patients with hyperlipidemia(r=0879, P<0.001 for TC). There was a prominent correlation between the plasma level of mi R-365 and the LDL-C levels in statin-free patients with hyperlipidemia(r=0.788, P<0.001 for LDL-C).Conclusion: Our results found that the plasma mi R-365 level in hyperlipidemia patients was high than in healthy controls. Moreover, the plasma level of mi R-365 was dramatically decreased in patients with hyperlipidemia after one month of lipid lowering treatment with atorvastatin therapy. Although these results were obtained from small cohorts, they provide an important basis for larger, prospective, multi-institutional studies to investigate the potential role of circulating mi RNAs as prognostic, diagnostic and therapeutic markers of hyperlipidemia and atherosclerosis in the future.