Circular RNA Expression Profiles in the Plasma from Patients with Heart Failure

To identify the circRNA expression profiles in HF patients’ plasma and to evaluate the potential application of circRNAs for HF diagnosis, circRNA microarrays were performed on plasma samples obtained from HF patients and healthy controls. The RNAs of the plasma from the HF and control groups were extracted for microarray analysis. The purified RNAs were hybridized to a microarray (Agilent human circRNA Array V2.0) containing 170,340 human circRNA probes. Quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) was used to validate the results. Peripheral blood samples were collected from three HF patients and three control groups into blood collection tubes containing 85 mM trisodium citrate, 78 mM citric acid, and 111 mM glucose. The whole blood was centrifuged at 2000 × g for 10 min at 22 °C to obtain plasma. Plasma was transferred to a new tube and stored at –80 °C in aliquots.