These studies show that miR-21 is an important factor leading to vulnerable plaque instability in ACS, and it can be a predictor of acute adverse events in coronary heart disease.
Here, we report that miR-21 is significantly upregulated in mouse atherosclerotic plaques and peripheral monocytes from patients with coronary artery disease.
MiR-21 expression in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) was significantly up-regulated in patients with CHD (acute myocardial infarction (AMI) group, n=24; unstable angina (UA) group, n=21; stable angina (SA) group, n=24) compared with patients with chest pain syndrome (CPS, n=27), and miR-21 expression showed an increasing trend from SA to UA to AMI patients.