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Profiling maternal plasma microRNA expression in early pregnancy to predict gestational diabetes mellitus
Author(s) -
Zhu Yanan,
Tian Fei,
Li Hailing,
Zhou Youxia,
Lu Jiafeng,
Ge Qinyu
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
international journal of gynecology and obstetrics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.895
H-Index - 97
eISSN - 1879-3479
pISSN - 0020-7292
DOI - 10.1016/j.ijgo.2015.01.010
Subject(s) - gestational diabetes , microrna , medicine , pregnancy , bioinformatics , real time polymerase chain reaction , gene , insulin resistance , downregulation and upregulation , diabetes mellitus , gene expression profiling , gene expression , computational biology , gestation , endocrinology , biology , genetics
Objective To profile the differential expression of plasma miRNAs in gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM). Methods In a pilot study conducted at a tertiary hospital in China between 2010 and 2014, peripheral blood samples were collected from women at 16–19 weeks of pregnancy. Pooled samples from 10 women who were subsequently diagnosed with GDM and from 10 healthy controls were used to construct two small RNA libraries. High‐throughput sequencing was performed, and differentially expressed miRNAs were validated by quantitative real‐time polymerase chain reaction (qRT‐PCR), followed by target prediction, Gene Ontology analysis, and pathway identification. Results Sequencing revealed 32 miRNAs that were differentially expressed in GDM, including 12 miRNAs that were upregulated and 20 that were downregulated. Differential expression of five upregulated miRNAs (hsa‐miR‐16‐5p, hsa‐miR‐17‐5p, hsa‐miR‐19a‐3p, hsa‐miR‐19b‐3p, hsa‐miR‐20a‐5p) was confirmed by qRT‐PCR. Target prediction showed that the major targets of these miRNAs were associated with insulin resistance and abnormal pregnancies. Conclusion The five miRNAs that were differentially expressed in GDM could serve as noninvasive biomarkers. The results also provide insights into the molecular mechanisms that underlie GDM, thereby contributing to the diagnosis and treatment of this disease.