Sustained Higher Levels of Plasma hsa-miR-17-5p Expression During Gestational Diabetes Mellitus and Postpartum

Background: The role of circulatory miRNAs in gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) was explored extensively in previous studies. However, there was limited literature on longitudinal studies exploring the changes in miRNA expression during pregnancy and postpartum to understand the changes in their expression levels in GDM patients. Methods: Blood samples from thirty GDM subjects and twenty normoglycemic pregnant women (NGT) were collected between 24 and 28 weeks of their pregnancy, and follow-up samples from the same subjects were collected till 12 weeks postpartum (FGDM and FNGT, respectively). Three candidate miRNAs, hsa-miR-16-5p, hsa-miR-17-5p, and hsa-miR-20a-5p, were quantified from their plasma samples using RT-qPCR. Comparative analysis of these miRNA expression levels was made between different groups. Results: hsa-miR-16-5p, hsa-miR-17-5p, and hsa-miR-20a-5p expression were significantly higher in GDM patients when compared to NGT subjects. Interestingly, hsa-miR-17-5p has shown consistent upregulation in FGDM even after these patients turned normoglycemic. Additionally, hsa-miR-16-5p was found to be higher in FGDM patients compared to FNGT subjects. Conclusions: The present study corroborated the finding of differential expression of hsa-miR-16-5p, hsa-miR-17-5p, and hsa-miR-20a-5p in GDM. It also marked the importance of monitoring the levels of hsa-miR-17-5p and hsa-miR-16-5p during pregnancy and postpartum in GDM patients.