Abstract
Congestive heart failure (CHF) remains the single most prevalent cause of mortality and morbidity; therefore, the identification of novel biomarkers is required for the diagnosis of CHF. The aim of the present study was to examine whether microRNA (miR)-423-5p is a novel biomarker for CHF, which was defined by the circulatory biomarker pro-brain natriuretic peptide (BNP). Samples of plasma from patients with CHF and healthy controls were collected and used for quantitative polymerase chain reaction analysis. In addition, the O-GlcNAc transferase (OGT) 3' untranslated region was cloned and used for a luciferase assay. The effects of the expression of miR-423-5p in cardiomyocytes were determined using western blotting and terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase-deoxyuridine triphosphate nick-end labeling analyses. The results demonstrated that miR-423-5p was associated with CHF and the expression levels of proBNP; in addition, OGT was found to be a direct target of miR-423-5p. The expression of miR-423-5p significantly regulated the expression of OGT and its associated downstream targets and induced apoptosis in the cardiomyocytes. Therefore, the results of the present study indicated that miR-423-5p was involved in CHF via the direct targeting of OGT and the induction of apoptosis in cardiomyocytes.