Firstly, like all case-control studies, selection bias (inclusion of patients surviving CHD) may exist and might influence interpretation of the results.
To reduce the possibility that prior results might influence interpretation of repeat laboratory tests, additional aliquots of total RNA were coded with different laboratory IDs and stored at −70°C.
In most of the previous studies, miR-21 expression was reported relative to paired normal tissues, whereas only tumor tissue was available from our patients, which might influence interpretation of results [ 17].
Beliefs about cancer are considered to be important in both the appraisal and help-seeking stages, where emotions such as fear might influence interpretation of symptoms [ 12] and the decision to seek medical help [ 6, 14– 17].
A total of 20 (ten male and ten female) wild-type control mice were also included to account for incidental and background lesions and to monitor for genetic drift, infectious disease or other environmental factors that might influence interpretation of histopathological changes.
