Key methodological challenges in detecting circulating miRNAs in different biofluids

Abstract

The technological advancement in diagnostic techniques has immensely improved the capability of predicting disease progression. Yet, there is a great interest in developing newer biomarkers that can enhance disease risk prediction thereby minimizing the associated morbidity and mortality. Circulating miRNAs, a non-coding RNA molecules, are critical regulators in the pathophysiology of various complex multifactorial diseases. In recent years, circulating miRNAs have been enormously studied and are considered as an emerging biomarker due to their easy accessibility, stability, and detection by sequence-specific amplification methods. 
 However, there is a distinct lack of consensus regarding the preanalytical factors such as preferred sample selection, methodological aspects, etc that may independently or together influence the detection of circulating miRNAs resulting in erroneous expression profiles. Therefore, the present review makes an attempt to highlight the various pre-analytical and analytical factors that can potentially influence the circulating miRNA levels. Literature on circulating miRNA’s stability, processing, and quantitation in different biofluids along with the effect of various controllable and uncontrollable factors influencing circulating miRNA expression have been summarized in the current review.