Circulating lncRNA IFNG-AS1 expression correlates with increased disease risk, higher disease severity and elevated inflammation in patients with coronary artery disease

BACKGROUND:This study aimed to investigate the associations of circulating long, non-coding (lncRNA) IFNG-AS1, lncRNA ANRIL and lncRNA ITSN1 relative expressions with disease risk, severity and inflammatory cytokines levels in coronary artery disease (CAD) patients. METHODS:One hundred and ninety-one patients suspected of CAD who underwent coronary angiography were consecutively enrolled in this casecontrol study, and divided into CAD patients (N = 102) and controls (N = 89) according to coronary angiographic results. Blood samples of all participants were collected. Plasma lncRNA IFNG-AS1, lncRNA ANRIL and lncRNA ITSN1 expressions were detected using quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR). Serum tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), interleukin (IL)-1β (IL-1β), IL-6, IL-8, IL-10, and IL-17 were assessed using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Gensini Score was used to evaluate the disease severity of CAD patients. RESULTS:LncRNA IFNG-AS1 relative expression in CAD patients was upregulated compared with that in controls (P   .05). CONCLUSION:Circulating lncRNA IFNG-AS1 expression correlates with increased disease risk, higher disease severity and elevated inflammation in CAD patients.