Dysregulation of miR-638 in diabetic nephropathy and its role in inflammatory response

MicroRNA (miRNA) can be used as a biomarker for the early diagnosis of diabetic nephropathy (DN). The purpose of this study was to evaluate the diagnostic value of miR-638 in DN and to analyse its regulatory effect on inflammation.

This retrospective study involved 98 subjects, including non-diabetic healthy controls (n = 30), patients with type 2 diabetes (T2DM, n = 36) without complications and patients with DN (n = 32). After the anthropometric and biochemical evaluation, serum miR-638 levels were assessed by real-time reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR). The levels of inflammatory cytokines (interleukin [IL]-1β, IL-6, and tumor necrosis factor-alpha [TNF-α]) were detected using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. The Spearman correlations were used to analyze the correlation between miR-638 and urinary albumin excretion (UAE), estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR), and inflammatory factors. Furthermore, the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was used to measure the diagnostic value of miR-638 in DN. Human mesangial cells (HMCs) were treated with normal glucose (NG, 5.5 mM glucose), high glucose (HG, 30 mM glucose), or high osmotic pressure solution (HO, 5.5 mM glucose + 24.5 mM mannitol) in vitro to simulate the hyperglycamic state in vivo. Subsequently, the HMCs were transfected with miR-638 mimics to regulate the level of miR-638 in the cells and detect its regulation on cell inflammation and proliferation.

Compared with healthy controls and patients with T2DM, serum miR-638 in patients with DN was significantly lower. The reduced miR-638 expression has a significant diagnostic value, which can significantly distinguish patients with DN from healthy controls or patients with T2DM. Inflammatory factors were significantly upregulated in patients with DN and negatively correlated with miR-638 levels. In addition, miR-638 was negatively correlated with UAE and positively correlated with eGFR. HG decreased the level of miR-638 and promoted the expression of inflammatory factors and proliferation in HMCs. However, miR-638 mimic significantly decreased the levels of inflammatory factors and inhibited the proliferative ability induced by HG.

Serum miR-638 expression was low in DN and can be a potentially valuable biomarker for DN. This miRNA seems to influence inflammatory responses and participate in the progression of DN by regulating proliferation.