Urinary Sediment Transcriptomic and Longitudinal Data to Investigate Renal Function Decline in Type 1 Diabetes.

Introduction: Using a discovery/validation approach we investigated associations between a panel of genes selected from a transcriptomic study and the estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) decline across time in a cohort of type 1 diabetes (T1D) patients. Experimental: Urinary sediment transcriptomic was performed to select highly modulated genes in T1D patients with rapid eGFR decline (decliners) vs. patients with stable eGFR (non-decliners). The selected genes were validated in samples from a T1D cohort (n = 54, mean diabetes duration of 21 years, 61% women) followed longitudinally for a median of 12 years in a Diabetes Outpatient Clinic. Results: In the discovery phase, the transcriptomic study revealed 158 genes significantly different between decliners and non-decliners. Ten genes increasingly up or down-regulated according to renal function worsening were selected for validation by qRT-PCR; the genes CYP4F22, and PMP22 were confirmed as differentially expressed comparing decliners vs. non-decliners after adjustment for potential confounders. CYP4F22, LYPD3, PMP22, MAP1LC3C, HS3ST2, GPNMB, CDH6, and PKD2L1 significantly modified the slope of eGFR in T1D patients across time. Conclusions: Eight genes identified as differentially expressed in the urinary sediment of T1D patients presenting different eGFR decline rates significantly increased the accuracy of predicted renal function across time in the studied cohort. These genes may be a promising way of unveiling novel mechanisms associated with diabetic kidney disease progression.

Insulin Glargine U100 Improved Glycemic Control and Reduced Nocturnal Hypoglycemia in Patients with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus and Chronic Kidney Disease Stages 3 and 4.

PURPOSE: Glycemic control in patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) is particularly hard to achieve because of a slower insulin degradation by the kidney. It might modify the long-acting insulin analogue pharmacokinetics, increasing its time-action and the risk of hypoglycemia. However, because this insulin has no peak action, it might be a more tolerable approach to patients with CKD. This hypothesis remains to be tested, because no study has thus far examined the efficacy and safety profile of long-acting basal analogues in patients with significant loss of renal function. The purpose of this study was to compare the glycemic response to treatment with glargine U100 or neutral protamine Hagedorn (NPH) insulin in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) and CKD stages 3 and 4. METHODS: Thirty-four patients were randomly assigned to glargine U100 or NPH insulin after a 2-way crossover open-label design. The primary end point was the difference in glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA1c) and in the number of hypoglycemic events between weeks 1 and 24, whereas secondary end points included changes in glycemic patterns, weight and body mass index, and total daily dose of insulin. HbA1c was determined by ion-exchange HPLC, and hypoglycemia was defined as glucose concentration of 54 mg/dL (3.0 mmol/L) detected by self-monitoring of plasma glucose or continuous glucose monitoring. FINDINGS: After 24 weeks, mean HbA1c decreased on glargine U100 treatment (-0.91%; P < 0.001), but this benefit was not observed for NPH (0.23%; P = 0.93). Moreover, incidence of nocturnal hypoglycemia was 3 times lower with glargine than with NPH insulin (P = 0.047). IMPLICATIONS: Our results found that insulin glargine U100 could be effective, once it improved glycemic control, reducing HbA1c with fewer nocturnal hypoglycemia episodes compared with NPH insulin in this population. These clinical benefits justify the use of basal insulin analogues, despite their high cost to treat patients with T2DM and CKD stages 3 and 4. Clinical Trials identifier: NCT02451917.

Micro-RNAs 518d-3p and 618 Are Upregulated in Individuals With Type 1 Diabetes With Multiple Microvascular Complications.

Objective: To compare the serum micro-RNAs (miRNAs) profile of individuals with type 1 diabetes without microvascular complications vs. those with multiple severe microvascular complications, in order to identify epigenetically modulated pathways in these two groups of individuals. Research Design and Methods: A total of 10 subjects were selected among individuals followed in the Diabetes Outpatient Clinic and sorted according to the absence or presence of all microvascular complications. Samples from these participants were used for evaluation of serum miRNA expression profile employing a qRT-PCR assay with hydrolysis probes based on the Taqman Low Density Arrays (TLDA) system. The top six most differentially expressed miRNAs between the aforementioned groups were validated by qRT-PCR in additional 47 type 1 diabetes individuals sorted according to the absence or presence of all microvascular complications and matched for age, sex, degree of metabolic control, diabetes duration, and age at diagnosis. Results: Twenty one out of three hundred and seventy seven miRNAs were upregulated in the group of individuals with all microvascular complications vs. the group without complications. The following miRs were validated: 518-3p, 34a-5p, 126-5p, 425-5p, 618, and 139-5p and logistic regression analyses showed that miRNA-518-3p and miRNA-618 were positively associated with multiple microvascular complications after adjustment for age, sex, diabetes duration, HbA1c and use of statin, angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors and amlodipine. Conclusions: In this cohort of type 1 diabetes individuals, serum miR-518d-3p and miR-618 were upregulated in those with diabetes kidney disease, diabetes retinopathy, peripheral neuropathy, and cardiovascular autonomic neuropathy in comparison to individuals with no microvascular complications.