Genetic Variants in MicroRNAs Predict Recurrence of Ischemic Stroke

MicroRNAs are a recently discovered class of small noncoding RNA, which play key roles in every aspect of brain function, including neural development and neurogenesis. Since abnormal expression and function of microRNAs has been observed in ischemic stroke, we evaluated whether genetic variations in microRNAs can influence the clinical behavior of ischemic stroke. Common functional microRNA SNPs (i.e., miR-146a rs2910164, miR-149 rs2292832, miR-196a2 rs11614913, miR-499 rs3746444, miR-605 rs2043556, and miR-618 rs2682818) were genotyped in 914 patients with ischemic stroke. MicroRNAs variants were not associated with age of ischemic stroke onset (P > 0.05). However, we found that miR-618 rs2682818 GT/TT genotypes were significantly associated with an increased risk of ischemic stroke recurrence, compared with the GG genotype (hazard ratio [HR] = 1.72; 95 % confidential interval [CI], 1.08 to 2.74; log-rank P = 0.006), and this effect was more pronounced among subjects with small-vessel disease (HR = 2.60; 95 % CI, 1.11 to 6.08; log-rank P = 0.007). Moreover, the variant genotypes (GT/TT) of rs2682818 were an independent prognostic factor for ischemic stroke in the multivariate Cox regression model. Our findings suggest that miR-618 SNP rs2682818 may play an important role in the recurrence of ischemic stroke.