Peripheral blood microRNA-15a is a potential biomarker for type 2 diabetes mellitus and pre-diabetes

Abstract

Abstract. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are small non-coding RNAs that function as crucial regulators of gene expression. Recently, dysregulation of miRNA expression in the blood has been demonstrated to be associated with various diseases, including type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2D), suggesting a potential for their use as biomarkers of disease prognosis. The present study examined the expression levels of T2D-associated miR-15a in peripheral whole blood samples from patients with T2D, pre-diabetes individuals exhibiting impaired fasting glucose (IFG) and impaired glucose tolerance (IGT), as well as healthy control subjects, in order to investigate the potential of peripheral blood miR-15a as a biomarker for the prediction of T2D and pre-diabetes. The present study included 24 patients with T2D, 22 IFG/IGT individuals and 24 healthy controls. The expression levels of miR-15a were analyzed by reverse transcription-quantitative polymerase chain reaction. The results indicated that the peripheral blood miR-15a expression levels were significantly decreased in patients with T2D and IFG/IGT individuals, compared with healthy control subjects (P<0.05). As determined by multivariate logistic regression analysis, lower miR-15a expression was significantly associated with T2D (odds ratio [OR], 0.51; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.16-0.73; P<0.05) and pre-diabetes (OR, 0.56; 95% CI, 0.23-0.79; P<0.05). This association remained statistically significant following adjustment for age, body mass index and hypertension, as well as other biochemical indicators. Furthermore, a receiver operating characteristic analysis revealed that blood miR-15a distinguished patients with T2Dand IFG/IGT individuals from healthy controls (area under the curves; 95% CI: 0.864; 0.751-0.977 and 95% CI: 0.852; 0.752-0.953, respectively). These results demonstrated that peripheral blood miR-15a expression levels were significantly lower in patients with T2D and IFG/IGT individuals, compared with healthy individuals. Thus, miR-15a in peripheral whole blood may serve as a potential biomarker for T2D and pre-diabetes.

Decreased expression of circulating microRNA-126 in patients with type 2 diabetic nephropathy: A potential blood-based biomarker

“…It is believed that circulating miRNAs mediate cell-to-cell communication (33,34), and correlate well with diseases or injurious conditions. Changes in the levels of circulating miRNAs have been observed in several diseases, suggesting that miRNAs could serve as a new class of biomarkers (21)(22)(23).…”

“…RT-qPCR analysis was performed using the TaqMan ® MicroRNA Reverse Transcription kit and Applied Biosystems Real-Time PCR detection system (Thermo Fisher Scientific, Inc.) as previously described (22). The small nuclear RNU6B was used for normalization (22).…”

“…RT-qPCR analysis was performed using the TaqMan ® MicroRNA Reverse Transcription kit and Applied Biosystems Real-Time PCR detection system (Thermo Fisher Scientific, Inc.) as previously described (22). The small nuclear RNU6B was used for normalization (22). The PCR primer sequences were as follows: Mature hsa-miR-126 (target), UCG UAC CGU GAG UAA UAA UGC and RNU6B (reference), CGC AAG GAT GAC ACG CAA ATT CGT GAA GCG TTC CAT ATT TTT (Thermo Fisher Scientific, Inc.).…”

“…Results were analyzed using Sequence Detection Software, version 1.7 (Applied Biosystems; Thermo Fisher Scientific, Inc.). The expression levels of miR-126 were normalized to those of RNU6B, and relative expression values were calculated using the 2 -ΔΔCt method as previously described (22). The Ct values from qPCR assays with >35 cycles were treated as not expressed.…”

“…miRNAs are accessible through non-invasive methods, and can be easily assessed by sensitive and specific methods such as quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) (19,20). This has led to the proposal that circulating miRNAs may be useful biomarkers for the detection of various diseases, including cancer and diabetes (21)(22)(23).…”