Abstract
Stroke is one of the most common diseases that leads to brain injury and mortality in patients, and intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) is the most devastating subtype of stroke. Though the prevalence of ICH increases with aging, the effect of aging on the pathophysiology of ICH remains largely understudied. Moreover, there is no effective treatment for ICH. Recent studies have demonstrated the potential of circulating microRNAs as non-invasive diagnostic and prognostic biomarkers in various pathological conditions. While many studies have identified microRNAs that play roles in the pathophysiology of brain injury, few demonstrated their functions and roles after ICH. Given this significant knowledge gap, the present study aims to identify microRNAs that could serve as potential biomarkers of ICH in the elderly. To this end, sham or ICH was induced in aged C57BL/6 mice (18-24 months), and 24 h post-ICH, serum microRNAs were isolated, and expressions were analyzed. We identified 28 significantly dysregulated microRNAs between ICH and sham groups, suggesting their potential to serve as blood biomarkers of acute ICH. Among those microRNAs, based on the current literature, miR-124-3p, miR-137-5p, miR-138-5p, miR-219a-2-3p, miR-135a-5p, miR-541-5p, and miR-770-3p may serve as the most promising blood biomarker candidates of ICH, warranting further investigation.