lncRNA ZEB1-AS1 is downregulated in diabetic lung and regulates lung cell apoptosis

The present study aimed to investigate the role of ZEB1-antisense RNA 1 (AS1) in diabetic lung (pneumonia with excluded causes other than diabetes). In the present study, the expression of ZEB1-AS1 in plasma was detected by performing reverse transcription-quantitative PCR. A receiver operating characteristic curve was used for diagnostic analysis. Lung cell apoptosis under the treatment of high glucose was analyzed by a cell apoptosis assay. p53 expression in lung cells was detected by performing western blotting. The present data demonstrated that ZEB1-AS1 was downregulated in the plasma of patients with diabetic lung (DL) compared with diabetic patients without complications (~1.6-fold) and healthy controls (~2.4-fold), and downregulation of ZEB1-AS1 distinguished patients with DL from healthy controls. ZEB1-AS1 in lung cells was downregulated by high glucose treatment, and overexpression of ZEB1-AS1 resulted in inhibited lung cancer cell apoptosis and downregulated p53. p53 overexpression attenuated the effects of ZEB1-AS1 overexpression on lung cell apoptosis. In conclusion, the present study demonstrated that ZEB1-AS1 was downregulated in patients with DL and regulates lung cancer cell apoptosis by downregulating p53.