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The role of microRNAs in the development, regulation, and treatment of atrial fibrillation

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Abstract

Background

MicroRNAs (miRNA)s regulate expression of genes involved in various processes including cardiac automaticity, conduction, excitability, and fibrosis and therefore may provide a diagnostic utility to identify high-risk patients for atrial fibrillation (AF). In this study, we tested the hypothesis that specific profiles of circulating miRNAs can identify patients with AF and can also help to identify patients at high risk of AF recurrence after ablation.

Methods

Two patient populations were studied: 140 AF cases (93 paroxysmal and 47 persistent) and 50 healthy controls, and 141 AF ablation cases with (n = 86) and without (n = 55) 1-year recurrence. Assessment of several previously identified AF-associated plasma miRNAs (21, 29a, 133a, 133b, 150, 328) was performed with TaqMan assays, using synthetic miRNAs as standards.

Results

The AF cases compared to the healthy controls were older and were more often male and hypertensive. After multivariate adjustment, higher miRNA-21 levels significantly decreased the risk of AF (OR = 0.93 per fmol/μl (95% CI = 0.89–0.98, p = 0.007)). There were no significant differences in circulating miRNAs between the AF subtypes of persistent and paroxysmal. Among the AF ablation cases, miRNA-150 was lower for those with AF recurrences at 1 year (adjusted OR = 0.98 per 500,000 fmol/μl; 95% CI = 0.965, 0.998; p = 0.039).

Conclusions

Decreased circulating miRNA-21 is associated with AF, but not with AF subtypes, suggestive that molecular mechanisms responsible for the onset and progression of the AF may be different. Circulating miRNA-150 was significantly associated with a reduction in 1-year AF recurrence post ablation suggestive of adverse structural and electrical remodeling as recurrence mechanisms.

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank Matt Grover, Lizzy Stauder, and Johnny Thrang for their assistance with samples processing.

Funding

This study received funding from the Intermountain Research and Medical Foundation Grant.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Intermountain Medical Center Heart Institute, Murray, UT, USA

    Oxana Galenko, Victoria Jacobs, Stacey Knight, Madisyn Taylor, Michael J. Cutler, Joseph B. Muhlestein, John L. Carlquist, Kirk U. Knowlton & T. Jared Bunch

  2. Department of Internal Medicine, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT, USA

    Stacey Knight, Joseph B. Muhlestein & Kirk U. Knowlton

  3. Department of Internal Medicine, Stanford University, Palo Alto, CA, USA

    T. Jared Bunch

  4. Intermountain Medical Center Heart Institute, Intermountain Medical Center, 5169 Cottonwood St, Salt Lake City, UT, 84107, USA

    T. Jared Bunch

Authors
  1. Oxana Galenko
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  2. Victoria Jacobs
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  3. Stacey Knight
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  4. Madisyn Taylor
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  6. Joseph B. Muhlestein
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  7. John L. Carlquist
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  8. Kirk U. Knowlton
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  9. T. Jared Bunch
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to T. Jared Bunch.

Ethics declarations

All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards. The study was a retrospective design with stored serum used for analysis. All patients provided consent for the use of their serum and medical records for research purposes. The study was approved by the IRB.

Conflict of interest

Oxana Galenko: none

Victoria Jacobs: none

Stacey Knight: none

Madisyn Taylor: none

Michael J. Cutler: none

Joseph B. Muhlestein: none

John Carlquist: none

Kirk Knowlton: none

T. Jared Bunch: major, Boehringer Ingelheim research grant

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Galenko, O., Jacobs, V., Knight, S. et al. The role of microRNAs in the development, regulation, and treatment of atrial fibrillation. J Interv Card Electrophysiol 55, 297–305 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10840-018-0495-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10840-018-0495-z

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