Plasma expression of lncRNA Wisper in patients with heart failure and patients with myocardial infarction.

BACKGROUND: Heart failure (HF) and ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) are the major causes of morbidity and mortality worldwide. Recent evidence indicates that long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) participate in cardiac fibrosis, which develops to varying degrees in these conditions. PATIENTS AND METHODS: This retrospective study analyzed the plasma expression levels of lncRNA Wisper using RT-qPCR in 28 patients with HF (NYHA class III - IV, reduced ejection fraction), 37 patients with STEMI, and 15 healthy controls. Diagnostic accuracy was assessed using receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis, and correlations with clinical parameters were evaluated. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS: Patients with HF and STEMI showed significantly higher plasma Wisper expression than that of controls (p = 0.021 and p = 0.03, respectively), with no significant difference between the HF and STEMI groups (p = 1.0). In patients with HF, Wisper expression negatively correlated with age (rho = -0.452, p = 0.016). ROC analysis demonstrated good discriminatory power of Wisper in distinguishing HF (AUC = 0.783, 95% CI: 0.648-0.919, p = 0.002) and STEMI (AUC = 0.780, 95% CI: 0.658-0.903, p = 0.002) from controls. The elevated plasma expression of Wisper in patients with HF and STEMI suggests its potential role as a circulating biomarker of cardiac fibrosis.