1st Department of Cardiology, Hippokration Hospital, Athens University Medical School, Athens, Greece.
Curr Top Med Chem. 2013;13(13):1596-604. doi: 10.2174/15680266113139990108.
During the last decade, a growing body of evidence has shown an interplay of genetics and inflammation which leads to a greater understanding of the complex pathophysiology of atherosclerotic vascular disease. Of great interest are non-coding RNAs, called microRNAs due to their importance for many aspects of homeostasis and disease. According significant data, they have been implicated in the regulation of several human physiological processes, while they seem to participate in cardiovascular disease pathogenesis including atherosclerosis and acute coronary syndromes. Accordingly, other biomarkers beyond troponins such as microRNAs, could be proved very useful in the aim of enhancing diagnostic or therapeutic effectiveness. Notably, there is evidence that patients with unstable angina pectoris could be discriminated from stable patients, given higher expression levels of several microRNAs, suggesting that they could be used to identify patients at risk for acute coronary syndromes. Also, they may have a substantial therapeutic impact in the management of athero-thrombotic vascular disorders, even though there are still obstacles in their use for that purposes, such as the delivery of the drug to target cells. Thus, it will be necessary to further explore their complications, before their use as therapeutic option.
在过去的十年中，越来越多的证据表明遗传因素和炎症之间存在相互作用，这使得人们对动脉粥样硬化性血管疾病的复杂病理生理学有了更深入的了解。非编码 RNA 引起了人们的极大兴趣，因其在稳态和疾病的许多方面都很重要，故被称为 microRNAs。有重要数据表明，它们参与了许多人类生理过程的调节，而它们似乎参与了包括动脉粥样硬化和急性冠状动脉综合征在内的心血管疾病的发病机制。因此，除了肌钙蛋白之外的其他生物标志物，如 microRNAs，可能在提高诊断或治疗效果方面非常有用。值得注意的是，有证据表明，不稳定型心绞痛患者可以通过几种 microRNAs 的高表达水平与稳定型患者区分开来，这表明它们可以用于识别发生急性冠状动脉综合征的高危患者。此外，microRNAs 在动脉粥样硬化血栓形成性血管疾病的治疗中也可能具有重要的影响，尽管在将其用于治疗方面仍存在障碍，例如药物递送到靶细胞的问题。因此，在将其用作治疗选择之前，有必要进一步探索其可能带来的影响。
