Thrombosis and haemostasis
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Comparative Study
Distinctive expression signatures of serum microRNAs in ischaemic stroke and transient ischaemic attack patients.
Circulating microRNAs (miRNAs) have recently emerged as promising biomarkers for ischaemic stroke (IS). However, the expression patterns of specific miRNAs in transient ischaemic attack (TIA) patients have not been investigated. Their predictive values for the presence of IS and TIA and their relationships to the neurological deficit severity of IS and the subsequent stroke risk after TIA remain unclear exactly. ⋯ Strikingly, serum levels of miR-23b-3p, miR-29b-3p and miR-181a-5p were also significantly elevated in TIA patients. Furthermore, up-regulated miR-23b-3p, miR-29b-3p and miR-21-5p could clearly differentiate between IS and TIA patients. Logistic regression and receiver-operating characteristic curve analyses demonstrated that these altered miRNAs may function as predictive and discriminative biomarkers for IS and TIA, and their distinctive expression signatures may contribute to assessing neurological deficit severity of IS and subsequent stroke risk after TIA.