Serially measured circulating miR-22-3p is a biomarker for adverse clinical outcome in patients with chronic heart failure: The Bio-SHiFT study

Abstract Background Several studies have suggested circulating microRNAs (miRs) are associated with heart failure, but these studies were small, and limited to single miR measurements. We examined 7 miRs which were previously linked to heart failure, and tested whether their temporal expression level predicts prognosis in a prospective cohort of chronic heart failure (CHF) patients. Methods and results In 2011–2013, 263 CHF patients were included. At inclusion and subsequently every 3 months, we measured 7 miRs. The primary endpoint (PE) comprised heart failure hospitalization, cardiovascular mortality, cardiac transplantation and LVAD implantation. Associations between temporal miR patterns and the PE were investigated by joint modelling, which combines mixed models with Cox regression. Mean age was 67 ± 13 years, 72% were men and 27% NYHA classes III–IV. We obtained 873 blood samples (median 3 [IQR 2–5] per patient). The PE was reached in 41 patients (16%) during a median follow-up of 0.9 [0.6–1.4] years. The temporal pattern of miR-22-3p was independently associated with the PE (HR [95% CI] per doubling of level: 0.64 [0.47–0.77]). The instantaneous change in level (slope of the temporal miR pattern) of miR-22-3p was also independently associated with the PE (HR [95% CI] per doubling of slope: 0.33 [0.20–0.51]). These associations remained statistically significant after adjustment for temporal patterns of NT-proBNP, Troponin T and CRP. Conclusions The temporal pattern of circulating miR-22-3p contains important prognostic and independent information in CHF patients. This concept warrants further investigation in larger series with extended follow-up.