Plasma circRNA expression profile in patients with early-onset acute myocardial infarction

CircRNAs are a new class of noncoding RNA and play regulatory roles in a variety of human diseases. However, the clinical significance of circRNAs in early-onset acute myocardial infarction (AMI) remains unknown. Therefore, we sought to explore the expression profile of circRNAs in early-onset AMI.

CircRNA microarray was used to screen differentially expressed circRNAs between early-onset AMI patients and matched healthy controls. The highest fold-changed circRNAs were validated by quantitative real-time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) in independent samples. Biological processes and potential signaling pathways of differentially expressed circRNA were predicted by the circRNA–miRNA–mRNA network, Gene Ontology (GO), and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway analyses.

One hundred differentially expressed circRNAs, including 64 upregulated and 36 downregulated, were detected between 5 early-onset AMI patients and 5 healthy controls. Among the 8 circRNAs with the highest fold-change magnitude, only circSEC31A was validated by qRT-PCR in an independent cohort (12 early-onset AMI patients vs. 12 healthy controls), showing significant upregulation in AMI patients (fold change = 2.27, P = 0.030). CircRNA–miRNA–mRNA network, GO and KEGG analysis indicated that circSEC31A was associated with apolipoprotein and cholesterol metabolism.

CircSEC31A is differentially expressed in plasma of patients with early-onset AMI and may represent a candidate molecule for further investigation into the mechanisms of this condition. Bioinformatics analysis suggests potential links to apolipoprotein and cholesterol metabolism.