• Viola Neudecker, Kelley S Brodsky, Simone Kreth, Adit A Ginde, and Holger K Eltzschig.
• From the Department of Anesthesiology, Clinic of the University of Munich, Munich, Germany (V.N., S.K.); and Organ Protection Program, Department of Anesthesiology (V.N., K.S.B., A.A.G., H.K.E.) and Department of Emergency Medicine (A.A.G.), University of Colorado School of Medicine, Aurora, Colorado.
• Anesthesiology. 2016 Feb 1; 124 (2): 489-506.

AbstractMicroRNAs (miRNAs) are small, non-protein-coding, single-stranded RNAs. They function as posttranscriptional regulators of gene expression by interacting with target mRNAs. This process prevents translation of target mRNAs into a functional protein. miRNAs are considered to be functionally involved in virtually all physiologic processes, including differentiation and proliferation, metabolism, hemostasis, apoptosis, and inflammation. Many of these functions have important implications for anesthesiology and critical care medicine. Studies indicate that miRNA expression levels can be used to predict the risk for eminent organ injury or sepsis. Pharmacologic approaches targeting miRNAs for the treatment of human diseases are currently being tested in clinical trials. The present review highlights the important biological functions of miRNAs and their usefulness as perioperative biomarkers and discusses the pharmacologic approaches that modulate miRNA functions for disease treatment. In addition, the authors discuss the pharmacologic interactions of miRNAs with currently used anesthetics and their potential to impact anesthetic toxicity and side effects.

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