Integrative transcriptomic analysis of pancreatic islets from patients with prediabetes/type 2 diabetes

To identify new transcriptomic alterations in pancreatic islets associated with metabolic dysfunctions in people with prediabetes (PD)/type 2 diabetes (T2D).

We collected information from public data repositories T2D related microarray datasets from pancreatic islets. We identified Differential Expressed Genes (DEGs) in non-diabetic (ND) vs people with T2D in each study. To identify relevant DEGs in T2D, we selected those that varied consistently in the different studies for further meta-analysis and functional enrichment analysis. DEGs were also evaluated at the PD stage.

A total of seven microarray datasets were collected and analysed to find the DEGs in each study and meta-analysis was performed with 245 ND and 96 T2D cases. We identified 55 transcriptional alterations potentially associated with specific metabolic dysfunctions in T2D. Meta-analysis showed that 87% of transcripts identified as DEGs (48 out of 55) were confirmed as having statistically significant up- or down-modulation in T2D compared to ND. Notably, nine of these DEGs have not been previously reported as dysregulated in pancreatic islets from people with T2D. Consistently, the most significantly enriched pathways were related to the metabolism and/or development/maintenance of β-cells. Eighteen of the 48 selected DEGs (38%) showed an altered expression in islets from people with PD.

These results provide new evidence to interpret the pathogenesis of T2D and the transition from PD to T2D. Further studies are necessary to validate its potential use for the development/implementation of efficient new strategies for the prevention, diagnosis/prognosis and treatment of T2D.