Circulating microRNA in patients with popliteal and multiple artery aneurysms

BACKGROUND: Patients with popliteal artery aneurysm (PA) often have multiple aneurysms, such as bilateral disease or a concomitant abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA). microRNAs (miRs) are regulators of biological processes and have been investigated as biomarkers for AAA. The aim of this study was to explore if the presence of multiple aneurysms and/or location correlated with miR levels in blood. METHODS: Using quantitative polymerase chain reaction, 23 miRs were analyzed in plasma from 183 patients with PA. RESULTS: Fifteen of the miRs were associated with the number and/or location of aneurysms (1.3- to 2.1-fold changes). Levels of miR-93 (1.4-fold) and miR-215 (1.6- to 1.9-fold) were changed in all compared groups. MiR-24 and miR-23a were altered in those with AAA (1.4- and 1.5-fold, respectively) or bilateral PA (1.5- and 1.4-fold, respectively), compared with in those without. MiR-145 were significantly altered (1.7-fold) in those with isolated PA and AAA, whereas miR-326 were altered in those with bilateral (2.3-fold) and isolated PA (1.9-fold). CONCLUSIONS: Different miRs seem to be important or to be markers for different subgroups of patients with PA. The identified miRs target vascular smooth muscle cell proliferation and vascular inflammation. Further studies are needed to increase the understanding of the pathogenesis of aneurysmal disease.