Validation of Guanidine-EDTA as a Preservative Agent for the Analysis of miRNAs and mRNAs in Blood Samples of Chagas Disease Patients

DNA, in preserving mRNAs and miRNAs when mixed in a 1:1 ratio with human blood. Samples with or without guanidine were enriched with exogenous miRNAs (cel-miR-39 and cel-miR-54) and stored at 4 °C. RNase P expression was also evaluated in blood samples stored for up to 120 days and in samples from patients with CD, allowing direct comparison of mRNA stability over time. Samples preserved with guanidine-EDTA showed Ct values that were 4 to 5 cycles lower for all targets analyzed and demonstrated greater RNA stability over time. Taken together, these findings demonstrate that guanidine-EDTA robustly preserves mRNA and miRNAs in human blood, expanding the feasibility of molecular analyses in retrospective samples and corroborating its potential application in the studies of biomarkers of therapeutic response and prognosis in CD.