PATTERN OF CIRCULATING MICRORNAS IN VASCULAR COGNITIVE DISORDERS

Highlights Studying circulating microRNAs in vascular cognitive disorders significantly contributes towards understanding the molecular mechanisms of development and progression of these disorders. Studying microRNAs allows us to identify new biomarkers that can be used to diagnose, predict the course of the disease and determine the effectiveness of treatment. Abstract Vascular cognitive disorders (VCD) are one of the most common forms of non-psychotic mental disorders with a variable phenotype and rate of progression, transformation into vascular dementia. VCD develops due to existing cardiovascular diseases (CVD), which highlights the importance of an interdisciplinary approach to diagnosis and treatment of these diseases. The study of new mechanisms of the development of VCD can help in finding the key to the development of innovative diagnostic methods and personalized treatment approaches. In recent years, the role of non-coding ribonucleic acids (RNA) has been actively studied, while the greatest interest of researchers and clinicians is focused on studying the role of microRNAs (miR). The aim of this review was to search, generalize and systematize preclinical and clinical studies on the role of circulating miR as molecular biomarkers of the development and progression of VCD. The authors searched for publications in the following databases PubMed, Springer, Web of Science, ClinicalKey, Scopus, Oxford Press, Cochrane, e-Library using keywords and their combinations. The publications published in 2013–2023 were analyzed, including original clinical studies of VCD and vascular dementia. The findings of this review show that miR-409-3p, miR-502-3p, miR-486-5p and miR-451a can be considered as promising molecular biomarkers of VCD. However, the role of other microRNAs is debatable and needs further study. In the future, it will be possible to consider previously studied circulating microRNAs with high specificity and sensitivity to VCD and vascular dementia as prognostic molecular biomarkers (predictors) of the risk of their development and severity in patients with CVD. Based on the analysis of the results of preclinical and clinical studies, the authors present the most sensitive and specific microRNAs associated with the development and rapid progression of VCD in people with cerebrovascular and cardiovascular diseases. Moreover, microRNAs have been demonstrated to facilitate the differential diagnosis of VCD and cognitive disorders in Alzheimer's disease and Parkinson's disease.