The Diagnostic Value of Whole Blood lncRNA ENST00000550337.1 for Pre-Diabetes and Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus.

This study aims to investigate long noncoding RNA (lncRNA) as biomarker for pre-diabetes and T2DM. LncRNAs in the peripheral blood of 6 healthy individuals and 6 T2DM patients were collected for microarray analysis. Then 5 candidate biomarkers from the differentially expressed lncRNAs were chosen and verified in a larger independent cohort (control group=20; pre-diabetes group=20; and T2DM group=20). The diagnostic capacity of ENST00000550337.1 was further tested in the third cohort (control group, n=60; pre-diabetes group, n=63; and T2DM group, n=64). A total of 17 lncRNAs were found to be differentially expressed between the 2 groups. 14 lncRNAs of these were upregulated in T2DM patients and 3 were downregulated. 5 upregulated lncRNAs were selected as potential biomarkers and verified in the second cohort, and the expression levels of 3 lncRNAs increased gradually from the control group to the pre-diabetes group to the T2DM group. The diagnostic value of ENST00000550337.1 was then tested in the third cohort, and its high diagnostic value for pre-diabetes and T2DM was confirmed. LncRNA ENST00000550337.1 is a potential diagnostic biomarker for pre-diabetes and T2DM.