Determination of 14 circulating microRNAs in Swedes and Iraqis with and without diabetes mellitus type 2.
BACKGROUND
Recent reports suggest that immigrants from Middle Eastern countries are a high-risk group for type 2 diabetes (T2D) compared with Swedes, and that the pathogenesis of T2D may be ethnicity-specific. Deregulation of microRNA (miRNA) expression has been demonstrated to be associated with T2D but ethnic differences in miRNA have not been investigated. The aim of this study was to explore the ethnic specific expression (Swedish and Iraqi) of a panel of 14 previously identified miRNAs in patients without T2D (including those with prediabetes) and T2D.


METHODS
A total of 152 individuals were included in the study (84 Iraqis and 68 Swedes). Nineteen Iraqis and 14 Swedes were diagnosed with T2D. Expression of the 14 selected miRNAs (miR-15a, miR-20, miR-21, miR-24, miR-29b, miR-126, miR-144, miR-150, miR-197, miR-223, miR-191, miR-320a, miR-486-5p, and miR-28-3p) in plasma samples was measured by real-time PCR.


RESULTS
In the whole study population, the expression of miR-24 and miR-29b was significantly different between T2D patients and controls after adjustment for age, sex, waist circumference, family history of T2D, and a sedentary lifestyle. Interestingly, when stratifying the study population according to country of birth, we found that higher expression of miR-144 was significantly associated with T2D in Swedes (OR = 2.43, p = 0.035), but not in Iraqis (OR = 0.54, p = 0.169). The interaction test was significant (p = 0.017).


CONCLUSIONS
This study suggests that the association between plasma miR-144 expression and T2D differs between Swedes and Iraqis.
Center for Primary Health Care Research, Lund University/Region Skåne, Sweden.
Xiao
X
Wang
Center for Primary Health Care Research, Lund University/Region Skåne, Sweden ; Stanford Prevention Research Center, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, California, United States of America.
Jan
J
Sundquist
Center for Primary Health Care Research, Lund University/Region Skåne, Sweden.
Bengt
B
Zöller
Center for Primary Health Care Research, Lund University/Region Skåne, Sweden.
Ashfaque A
AA
Memon
Center for Primary Health Care Research, Lund University/Region Skåne, Sweden.
Karolina
K
Palmér
Center for Primary Health Care Research, Lund University/Region Skåne, Sweden ; Stanford Prevention Research Center, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, California, United States of America.
Kristina
K
Sundquist
Center for Primary Health Care Research, Lund University/Region Skåne, Sweden.
Louise
L
Bennet
D000368:Aged; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000097:blood; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D003924:Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 / Q000097:blood* / Q000208:ethnology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007333:Insulin Resistance; D007493:Iraq / Q000208:ethnology; D008297:Male; D035683:MicroRNAs / Q000097:blood*; D008875:Middle Aged; D013548:Sweden; D014505:Urban Population
D015415:Biomarkers; C554293:MIRN144 microRNA, human; D035683:MicroRNAs