ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Cardiovasc. Med.
Sec. Hypertension
Identification of circulating microRNA biomarkers in pulmonary hypertension of group 2 for early detection
Xiaoyao Qin 1,2
Liqin Zheng 3
Huan Zhao 1
Qiaozhi Li 2
Liming Wang 4
Qianqian Lu 4
Peng Chen 2
Zhifeng Xue 5
Zhengwei Dong 2
1. Henan University of Chinese Medicine, Zhengzhou, China
2. The First Affiliated Hospital of Henan University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Zhengzhou, China
3. Fenyang Hospital of Shanxi Province, Fenyang, China
4. Tianjin University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Tianjin, China
5. Shanxi Bethune Hospital, Taiyuan, China
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Abstract
Background: Pulmonary hypertension (PH) is a progressive cardiopulmonary disorder with high morbidity and mortality, yet non-invasive diagnostic biomarkers remain scarce. Circulating microRNAs (miRNAs) have emerged as promising biomarkers for various diseases, but their role in Group 2 PH (due to left heart disease) is poorly understood. Methods: We performed high-throughput miRNA sequencing on plasma samples from 10 healthy controls (C group), 10 patients with coronary heart disease (CHD group), and 10 patients with coronary heart disease complicated by PH (PH group). Differential miRNA expression was analyzed, and candidate miRNAs were validated by RT-qPCR. Correlations with pulmonary artery pressure parameters (Tricuspid regurgitation maximum velocity (TRVmax) and systolic pulmonary artery pressure (SPAP) were assessed, and bioinformatic analyses were conducted to predict target genes and functional pathways. Results: We identified 575 differentially expressed miRNAs across the three groups. Eleven miRNAs were significantly dysregulated in PH patients compared to CHD and C groups. Among these, five miRNAs (mmu-miR-452-3p_1ss20GA, hsa-miR-10a-3p_R-1, hsa-miR-21-5p, hsa-miR-1287-5p_R+1, and bta-mir-1246-p5_1ss18AG) showed strong positive correlations with TRVmax and SPAP. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analyses revealed high diagnostic accuracy. Functional enrichment analysis indicated involvement in key signaling pathways such as p53, PPAR, TGF-β, JAK-STAT, and MAPK. Conclusion: Our study identifies a panel of circulating miRNAs as potential non-invasive biomarkers for diagnosing Group 2 PH and provides insights into their roles in PH pathogenesis, offering new avenues for therapeutic intervention.
Summary
Keywords
biomarkers, Early detection, microRNA, pulmonary hypertension, Pulmonary hypertension of group 2
Received
13 September 2025
Accepted
02 February 2026
Copyright
© 2026 Qin, Zheng, Zhao, Li, Wang, Lu, Chen, Xue and Dong. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
*Correspondence: Zhengwei Dong
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