Background: The most reliable method for diagnosing diabetic nephropathy (DN) is renal biopsy, which carries a significant risk of bleeding problems and is a highly intrusive and costly surgery. Thus, DN requires sensitive and trustworthy biomarkers. Owing to their stability in serum or plasma and their involvement in various biological processes, miRNAs may be helpful in the early diagnosis of diabetic nephropathy.
Objectives: This study aimed to investigate the expression profile and clinical significance of plasma miRNA 155-5p in the early detection and progression of DN.
Subjects and methods: Ninety participants were divided into 3 equal groups according to their urine ALB level to : (healthy controls, Diabetic patients (normoalbuminuria) and Diabetic patients (microalbuminuria).Plasma samples were obtained from the participants. The plasma miRNA profiles were obtained by miRNA low-density array chip and validated by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction. The correlations between the differential expression of plasma miRNA and clinicopathological parameters were explored.
Results: Our findings revealed significant downregulation of miR-155 5p expression between the diabetic (microalbuminuria) group and the other groups and between the diabetic (normoalbuminuria) group and the healthy control group and a a significant positive correlation between miR-155 5p expression and the eGFR and a strong significant negative correlation between miR-155 5p expression and the urinary protein excertion rate.
Conclusions: As miRNAs participate in different biological processes and are stable in plasma or serum, they may be useful for the early detection of DN.