Altered expression of miR-375 and miR-541 in type 2 diabetes patients with and without coronary artery disease (CAD): the potential of miR-375 as a CAD biomarker.

ABSTRACT

Background: MicroRNAs (miRNAs, miRs) have been linked to beta-cell pathologies and have also shown potential as biomarkers for cardiovascular disease. This study aimed to evaluate the expression of miR-375 and miR-541 in T2D patients with and without CAD, in order to determine the potential of these miRNAs as biomarkers for assessing CAD risk. Methods: This study was conducted on 106 patients with T2D who underwent coronary angiographic examination. Reverse transcription was performed using the cDNA synthesis kit. Real-time PCR was performed using the SYBR Green method and specific primers. The ability to predict which person had developed CAD was evaluated by calculating the area under the receiver-operating characteristic (ROC) curve (AUC). Results: The expression of miR-375 was significantly higher in samples from CAD patients compared to those without CAD (p = 0.009). While the expression of miR-541 was also higher in CAD patients, the difference was not statistically significant. In terms of predicting CAD, miR-375 was found to be a suitable predictor with an AUC of 0.74 (p = 0.01), while miR-541 was not. With a cut-off value of 0.016 for miR-375, the sensitivity was 67% and the specificity was 80%. Conclusion: Our results indicated that circulating levels of miR-375 and miR-541 were elevated in T2D patients with CAD compared to those without CAD. This suggests that miR-375 could potentially be used as a non-invasive biomarker for the diagnosis of CAD in T2D patients.