Decreased expression of miR-150, miR146a and miR424 in type 1 diabetic patients: Association with ongoing islet autoimmunity

Background: Recent studies revealed altered miRNAs profiling in patients with autoimmune diseases, including type 1 diabetes (T1D). Here, we conducted an observational study and examined the expression levels of these five miRNAs (miR-150,miR-146a,miR-424,miR-181a and miR-142-3P) in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) from T1D patients. Methods: PBMCs were obtained from T1D cohorts (n = 78), type 2 diabetes (T2D, n = 46) and healthy control subjects (n = 56). Quantitative analysis of five miRNAs were performed using SYBR quantitative real time PCR (qRT-PCR). All values were normalized to endogenous control U6. Then, We compared expression level of five miRNAs in PBMCs from T1DM and age-matched healthy controls, and related the miRNAs expression levels to beta-cell function, autoantibodies and glycaemic control in T1D cohort. Results: We identified decreased miR-150, miR-146a and miR-424 in patients with T1D, which can distinguished from non-diabetic patients and T2D patients (p < 0.05). Furthermore, they were significantly decreased in PBMCs from GADA autoantibody-positive (Ab+) patients versus GADA autoantibody-negative (Ab-) patients. However, there was no correlation between characteristics such as age, sex, diabetes duration, C-peptide, and glycaemic, and the expression level of miRNAs (p > 0.05). Conclusions: Our study indicated miR-150, miR-146a and miR-424 may be potential biomarkers of T1DM with applications in the clinical setting as well as provided new insights into the molecular mechanisms involved in this disorder. (C) 2017 Published by Elsevier Inc.