Cell-free nucleic acids as biomarkers of cardiovascular diseases: prospects and limitations

One of the urgent tasks is the search for early and specific markers of cardio­vascular diseases (CVD) in order to stratify the cardiovascular risk, develop methods for their prevention, early diagnosis and treatment. In recent decades, considerable attention has been paid to plasma cell-free nucleic acids free: circulating cell-free DNA (сfDNA) and circulating non-coding RNA, in particular microRNA, which are considered as promising prognostic and diagnostic bio­markers of many pathological conditions, since they play a key role in the regu­lation of physiological and pathophysiological processes. This review covers current understanding of the potential of plasma cfDNA and microRNA assessment in cardiovascular patients as specific biomarkers for diagnosis, risk stratification, severity assessment and monitoring of CVD, with a focus on coronary artery dise­ase, heart failure and cardiac allograft rejection, where this area of research is promising.