Identification of Blood miR-216a, miR-377 and Their Target Genes ANGPTL4, GAP-43 and Serum of PPARG as Biomarkers for Diabetic Peripheral Neuropathy of Type 2 Diabetes.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Diabetic peripheral neuropathy (DPN) is one of the most common and complex chronic complications of diabetes, but it is clinically lacking effective means for early diagnosis and early treatment. MicroRNA, in the occurrence and development of the disease, has an important regulatory role. Its role in diabetes has been reported more. However, specific research on microRNA in DPN is rare. METHODS: Based on the results of bioinformatics screening, miR-377 and miR-216a, their respective target molecules growth association protein 43 (GAP-43) and angiopoietin-like 4 protein (ANGPTL4), and related pathways peroxisome proliferator activated receptor gamma (PPARG) and chemerin were tested by RT-qPCR and ELISA in blood samples of DPN to analyze the correlation between these differentially expressed molecules and clinico-pathological factors of DPN. RESULTS: In this study, we found that miR-377, miR-216a, GAP-43, ANGPTL4, and PPARG were significantly differentially expressed genes for DPN. The correlation analysis showed that they were closely related to the clinical indicators of DPN suggesting that they may be involved in the development of DPN. In addition, receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves generated for miR216a, miR377, ANGPTL4, GAP43, PPARG revealed that they can be used as new molecular diagnostic markers of DPN. CONCLUSIONS: miR-216a, miR-377, ANGPTL4, GAP-43, and PPARG could potentially be biomarkers of DPN.