Expression Profiling of Circulating MicroRNAs in Canine Myxomatous Mitral Valve Disease

• Published in: International journal of molecular sciences Vol. 16; no. 6; pp. 14098 - 14108
• Main Authors: Li, Qinghong, Freeman, Lisa M, Rush, John E, Laflamme, Dorothy P
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 19-06-2015; MDPI
• Subjects: Animals; biomarker; Biomarkers - metabolism; Communication; congestive heart failure; Disease; dog; Dog Diseases - blood; Dog Diseases - genetics; Dog Diseases - pathology; Dogs; Female; Gene expression; Heart failure; Heart Valve Diseases - blood; Heart Valve Diseases - diagnosis; Heart Valve Diseases - genetics; Heart Valve Diseases - veterinary; Male; microRNA; MicroRNAs - blood; MicroRNAs - genetics; Mitral Valve Prolapse - blood; Mitral Valve Prolapse - diagnosis; Mitral Valve Prolapse - genetics; Mitral Valve Prolapse - veterinary; myxomatous mitral valve disease; Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction; Ribonucleic acid; RNA; RT-qPCR; myxomatous mitral valve disease; congestive heart failure; microRNA; biomarker; RT-qPCR; dog
• ISSN: 1422-0067; 1661-6596; 1422-0067
• DOI: 10.3390/ijms160614098

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are small non-coding RNAs that have shown promise as noninvasive biomarkers in cardiac disease. This study was undertaken to investigate the miRNA expression profile in dogs with myxomatous mitral valve disease (MMVD). 277 miRNAs were quantified using RT-qPCR from six normal dogs (American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine Stage A), six dogs with MMVD mild to moderate cardiac enlargement (ACVIM Stage B1/B2) and six dogs with MMVD and congestive heart failure (ACVIM Stage C/D). Eleven miRNAs were differentially expressed (False Discovery Rate < 0.05). Dogs in Stage B1/B2 or C/D had four upregulated miRNAs, including three cfa-let-7/cfa-miR-98 family members, while seven others were downregulated, compared to Stage A. Expression of six of the 11 miRNAs also were significantly different between dogs in Stage C/D and those in Stage B1/B2. The expression changes were greater as disease severity increased. These miRNAs may be candidates for novel biomarkers and may provide insights into genetic regulatory pathways in canine MMVD.