Diagnostic value of circulating microRNA-27a/b in patients with acute pulmonary embolism.

Background: Circulating microRNAs (miRNAs) have been increasingly suggested as biomarkers for numerous diseases. The aims of this study were to evaluate the expression of plasma miR-27a/b in patients with acute pulmonary embolism (APE) and determine the possibility of miR-27a/b as diagnostic biomarkers for APE.

Methods: Seventy-eight APE patients diagnosed by computed tomographic pulmonary angiography (CTPA) and 70 age and gender matched normal volunteers were included in this study. The levels of miR-27a and miR-27b were measured by quantitative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) and the concentrations of plasma D-dimer were measured using immunoturbidimetric assay.

Results: The levels of plasma miR-27a and miR-27b were significantly higher in APE patients (P<0.001) compared with normal controls. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analyses showed that plasma miR-27a was superior to miR-27b for the diagnosis of APE (AUC=0.784, AUC=0.707, respectively). Combining miR-27a or miR-27b with D-dimer significantly increased the diagnostic capacity of APE.

Conclusions: Our results showed that circulating miR-27a and miR-27b might be potential novel diagnostic biomarkers in APE patients.