FIMICS: A panel of long noncoding RNAs for cardiovascular conditions()

Cardiovascular disorders such as heart failure are leading causes of mortality. Patient stratification via identification of novel biomarkers could improve management of cardiovascular diseases of complex etiologies. Long-noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) are highly tissue-specific in nature and have emerged as important biomarkers in human diseases. In this study, we aimed to identify cardiac-enriched lncRNAs as potential biomarkers for cardiovascular conditions. Deep RNA sequencing and quantitative PCR identified differentially expressed lncRNAs between failing and non-failing hearts. An independent dataset was used to evaluate the enrichment of lncRNAs in normal hearts. We identified a panel of 2906 lncRNAs, named FIMICS, that were either cardiac-enriched or differentially expressed between failing and non-failing hearts. Expression of lncRNAs in blood samples differentiated patients with myocarditis and acute myocardial infarction. We hereby present the FIMICS panel, a readily available tool to provide insights into cardiovascular pathologies and which could be helpful for diagnosis, monitoring and prognosis purposes.