Association of microRNA-146a rs2910164 polymorphism with type II diabetes mellitus in a South Indian population and a meta-analysis

Abstract

Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is a metabolic disorder caused by impaired insulin secretion and/or insulin resistance. Ever since its discovery, microRNAs have been studied for their implication in several human diseases. Recently many studies have reported the role of certain microRNAs in the development of T2DM. Mir-146a is a negative regulator of interleukin-1 receptor-associated kinase 1 (IRAK-1) and tumour necrosis factor receptor-associated factor 6 (TRAF-6) proteins and is known to play an important role in inflammation, innate immunity, beta-cell differentiation and insulin resistance. Here we aimed to investigate the association of mir-146a SNP rs2910164 with the risk of T2DM in an Indian population and a meta-analysis of existing literature on the same. We recruited 100 diabetic and 100 -non-diabetic subjects for the study. Blood samples, clinical and anthropometric parameters were collected. The rs2910164 SNP was genotyped using PCR-RFLP. A comprehensive literature survey was done on the role of mir-146a rs2910164 and meta-analysis was performed on the available eligible studies including the current study. The case-control study showed that the CC genotype and C allele was associated with an increased risk of T2DM. There was no significant association between the genotypes and biological parameters. The meta-analysis showed that the polymorphism was not associated with T2DM significantly. In conclusion, mir-146a rs2910164 plays a role as a risk factor in T2DM but the results need to be warranted with further studies.