Evaluation of the expression levels of lncRNAs H19 and MEG3 in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus

Abstract

Background: LncRNAs may play a role in either suppressing or exacerbating diabetes-associated vascular complications.

Aims: This study aimed to assess MEG3 and H19 expression levels in T2DM and pre-diabetes and their roles in diabetes-related microvascular complications.

Subject and methods: (RT-PCR) analysis of the MEG3 and H19 plasma levels was carried out in 180 participants of T2DM, pre-diabetes, and control.

Results: The expression level of lncRNA H19 was significantly down-regulated and lncRNA MEG3 up-regulated in T2DM compared to pre-diabetes and control, also for pre-diabetes versus control. The (ROC) analysis of MEG3 and H19 relative expression levels showed that MEG3 has better sensitivity for distinguishing T2DM from pre-diabetes and control groups.In comparison, H19 offered superior sensitivity to distinguish pre-diabetic from controls. Additionally, H19 was reported as an independent risk factor for T2DM by multivariate analysis. Low expression of H19 and over-expressed MEG3 were significantly associated with retinopathy, nephropathy, and elevated renal indicators (urea, creatinine, and UACR.

Conclusion: Our results implicated the potential diagnostic and predictive roles of lncRNA MEG3 and H19 for T2DM and related microvascular complications. Additionally, H19 may serve as a potential biomarker for pre-diabetes prediction.

Keywords: ACR; H19; LncRNA; MEG3; Microvascular complications; T2DM.