As assessed by Spearman’s correlation analysis the expression levels of BCL6, CCR1, and SGK1 were positively correlated (p < 0.001, Ro > 0.9) and PDGFD and TGFBR3 —negatively correlated (p < 0.05; Ro < −0.6) with MIR21 expression level in MI patients and CTRLs (Additional file 1: Figure S1). Here, BCL6 is linked to myocardial infarction.