Circulating long noncoding RNA, LIPCAR, predicts survival in patients with heart failure.

RATIONALE Long noncoding RNAs represent a novel class of molecules regulating gene expression. Long noncoding RNAs are present in body fluids, but their potential as biomarkers was never investigated in cardiovascular disease. OBJECTIVE To study the role of long noncoding RNAs as potential biomarkers in heart disease. METHODS AND RESULTS Global transcriptomic analyses were done in plasma RNA from patients with or without left ventricular remodeling after myocardial infarction. Regulated candidates were validated in 3 independent patient cohorts developing cardiac remodeling and heart failure (788 patients). The mitochondrial long noncoding RNA uc022bqs.1 (LIPCAR) was downregulated early after myocardial infarction but upregulated during later stages. LIPCAR levels identified patients developing cardiac remodeling and were independently to other risk markers associated with future cardiovascular deaths. CONCLUSIONS LIPCAR is a novel biomarker of cardiac remodeling and predicts future death in patients with heart failure.