Serum miR-23a, a potential biomarker for diagnosis of pre-diabetes and type 2 diabetes

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) play a crucial role in the pathogenesis of type 2 diabetes (T2D); they regulate several metabolic pathways including insulin secretion, glucose homeostasis, so their potential as biomarkers of diagnosis and prognosis has became increasingly appreciated. In this study, we explore serum miRNA profiles in T2D patients. A total of ten candidate miRNAs were identified by Solexa sequencing scanning and followed by a stem-loop quantitative reverse transcription PCR (qRT-PCR) to assess these candidate serum miRNAs. The results of qRT-PCR assessment revealed low serum levels of miR-23a, let-7i, miR-486, miR-96, miR-186, miR-191, miR-192, and miR-146a in T2D. Except for significantly lower in T2D and pre-diabetes patients compared with normal glucose tolerance (NGT) controls (P = 2.87E−05 and P = 3.75E−02), the levels of miR-23a demonstrated also significant decline in T2D patients compared with pre-diabetes patients (P = 1.06E−02). This marker yielded an AUC of 0.835 (95 % CI 0.717–0.954). At a cutoff value of 1.645, the sensitivity was 79.2 % and the specificity was 75.0 % in discriminating T2D patients from NGT normal controls. These results revealed that serum miR-23a was a valuable biomarker for early detection of T2D and pre-diabetes with NGT.