Wuttge DM, Carlsen AL, Teku G, et al. - Given a possible relevance of early recognition of systemic sclerosis-associated pulmonary arterial hypertension [SSc-APAH; a late but devastating complication of systemic sclerosis (SSc)] for improved survival, researchers herein investigated the role of circulating micro-RNAs (miRNAs) in SSc-APAH. They determined the abundance of mature miRNAs in plasma in 85 female patients with anti-centromere antibody positive limited cutaneous SSc using quantitative RT-PCR. Development of SSc-APAH was recorded in 22 of the patients. They matched 63 SSc controls without PAH for disease duration. For the SSc-APAH patients and SSc controls, they recorded disease duration of 12 years and 12.7 years, respectively. Patients with SSc-APAH had lower plasma expression levels of 11 miRNAs. SSc-APAH patients had higher plasma levels of four miRNAs compared with SSc controls. Per findings, expression levels of the circulating plasma miRNAs, especially miR-20a-5p and miR-203a-3p, are correlated with the occurrence of SSc-APAH in female patients with anti-centromere antibody positive limited cutaneous SSc.