Analysis of plasma circRNA expression profiles in rats with myocardial ischemia-reperfusion injury

CircRNAs have complex biological functions and are involved in the development of several cardiovascular diseases. The relationship between circRNAs and myocardial ischaemia-reperfusion injury (MIRI) is not yet clear. The aim of this study was to investigate the expression of circRNAs in rat plasma, to examine the differential expression profile of circRNAs in the plasma of MIRI rats, and to explore whether these circRNAs are potentially significant and have potential as novel markers for the diagnosis of MIRI and as therapeutic targets. Six adult male SD rats were randomly divided into MIRI and sham-operated groups to establish a rat MIRI model. rat plasma was taken, circRNAs were screened by high-throughput sequencing using circRNA microarrays, and circRNA differential expression was further verified using quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction. The differentially expressed circRNAs were subjected to gene ontology analysis and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes pathway analysis, and the biological functions of differentially expressed circRNAs were inferred, among others.