Abstract

The increasing prevalence of coronary artery disease (CAD) as well as its' monitoring remain crucial problems and fields of long debate. Thus, several circulating biomarkers have been found during the last decade and examined in terms of their potential to assist in the prognosis of CAD. Of great interest, are small non-coding RNAs (microRNAs or miRNAS or miRs), due to their association with many aspects of CAD. microRNAs circulate in the bloodstream, while they exist in tissues and affect plaque initiation and progression. In addition, they have been found to contribute to the pathophysiology of CAD and to the CAD-related manifestations such as myocardial infarction, heart failure and cardiac arrhythmias. Therefore, evaluating the role of these molecules may be of great importance in the understanding of atherogenesis providing new evidence for diagnosis and prognosis of CAD.

Keywords: miRNAs, prognosis, biomarkers, coronary artery disease, atherosclerosis.