Evaluation of Mir 29c-3p and Mir 31-5p Serum Values in Predicting Nephropathy in Type 2 Diabetic Patients

Diabetic Nephropathy (DN) is a prime complication of diabetes with various pathological mechanisms. microRNAs (miRNAs) have emerged as an important factor in the pathogenesis of renal disorders. We aimed to analyze serum miR 29c-3p and miR 31-5p in diabetic patients in relation to albuminuria and eGFR. Also, the correlations between these miRNAs and cystatin C were assessed. This study was conducted on 180 Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus (T2DM) patients and 60 age and gender matched controls. The patients were divided into three groups: Normoalbuminuric (Group I), microalbuminuric (Group II) and macroalbuminuric (Group III). miRNA expression analysis was assessed via real-time PCR. The diabetic patients showed decreased miR 29c-3p and miR 31-5p serum values and increased cystatin C compared with the controls. miR31-5p had better sensitivity (92.31%), specificity (93.62%) and AUC (0.958) than miR 29c-3p (69.23% sensitivity, 85.11% specificity and AUC = 0.785) in the prediction of an eGFR <60 mL/min/1.73 m2 in normoalbuminuric patients. Both miR 29c-3p and miR 31-5p could be used as early diagnostic and prognostic biomarkers for DN in T2DM. In particular, circulating miR 31-5p outperformed the other miRNAs in detecting normoalbuminuric diabetic patients with lower eGFRs.