Fig. 1.

microRNA screening and selection of candidates. A Screening phase: Heatmap showing the unsupervised hierarchical clustering in 10 cases and 10 matched controls. The heat map illustrates the levels of plasma microRNAs. Each column represents a patient. Each row represents a microRNA. Red spectra represent increasing expression, while blue spectra represent decreasing expression (see color scale on the right side of the map); B Screening phase: Volcano plot for each microRNA after comparison of cases and controls. The log10 (Fold Change) indicates the mean expression level for each microRNA. Each dot represents one microRNA. In green, microRNA candidates that fulfil the selection criteria. In this phase, microRNA expression profiles were assessed using the HTG EdgeSeq miRNA Whole Transcriptome Assay (miRNA WTA) (HTG Molecular, Tucson, AZ, USA); C Technical validation phase: Dot plot of microRNA expression validated in 30 cases and 30 matched controls. Comparisons of microRNA levels were performed using non-parametric Wilcoxon test. In this phase, microRNA expression profiles were assessed using RT-qPCR. Relative quantification was performed using miR-486-5p for normalization. Relative expression levels were log-transformed for statistical analysis