Circulating microRNA-1, and IL-18 are associated with inflammation in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus: A case control study

Background and objective: IL-18 and micRNA-1 can be differentially regulated in cardiomyopathy, nephropathy, and amputation that are among the many micro- and macrovascular issues known to be the complications of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). Thus, this study aims to detect the association of miRNA-1 and IL-18 with type 2 diabetes mellitus. Methods: This study included 90 participants including 30 diabetic patients, 30 pre-diabetic patients and 30 healthy controls in Erbil City, Iraq between November 2021 and May 2022. Different parameters were assessed for each participant including levels interleukin-18, high sensitivity C-reactive protein, lipid profile, and miRNA-1 profiling. 200µL of fresh plasma was utilized for the extraction of microRNA, and the extracted RNA was subsequently transformed into cDNA. Utilizing quantitative Real-Time PCR, the miRNA profiling analysis was carried out. Results: When comparing the mean age of the diabetic patients to the other studied groups, there was a statistically significant difference (P <0.05). Furthermore, there was a greater proportion of males, smokers, obese people, and people with hypertension among DM patients. When compared to the healthy controls, the concentration levels of IL-18 and hsC-reactive protein in both DM and pre-DM patients exhibited a substantial elevation (P <0.01). The expression of miRNA-1 was down-regulated in healthy controls and considerably up-regulated in both diabetes and pre-diabetic patients. Conclusion: These findings demonstrated that T2DM patients had higher expression of miRNA-1 than did healthy persons. MiRNAs may be very important in the etiology of type 2 diabetes via inducing inflammation. More research is necessary to determine their implications as diagnostic and preventive biomarkers.