Date created: | Last Updated:

Category: Project

Description: Coronary atherosclerotic disease and acute coronary syndromes are the leading cause for worldwide morbidity and mortality. Despite this, the diagnostic classification of ACS remains reliant on clinical findings, electrocardiographic findings and biochemical findings. There has been a push for a novel biomarker to assess myocardial injury. miRNAs are composed of non-coding RNA sequences that assemble ~22-24 nucleotides and remain stable within circulation. We conducted a systematic review of the literature to identify the role of circulating miRNAs as a biomarker in myocardial injury. PubMed, Ovid’s version of MEDLINE, and EMBASE the systematic review were interrogated using predetermined search terms. MiRNAs had a good agreement with cardiac troponins in several studies. Several reports have supported the non-superiority of miRNAs over troponin in the diagnosis of AMI. More studies are needed to justify their use in the early diagnosis and prognosis of patients with CAD. Furthermore, miRNAs may also have a therapeutic implication especially in coated stents to reduce myointimal proliferation. The use of miRNAs remains experimental at the time of writing but has a promising role in the diagnosis and prognosis of a variety of ACS presentations. Its use, either on its own or coupled with current available biomarkers may be adopted in the near future especially if diagnostic ambiguity exists.