Association of microRNA-192, pentraxin-3, and transforming growth factor-beta1 with estimated glomerular filtration rate in adults with diabetic nephropathy

Abstract

Abstract Objective Nephropathy is among the most pervasive complications of diabetes; it frequently results in end-stage renal disease and even death. However, current biomarkers for diabetic nephropathy (DN) have limited diagnostic utility. Thus, this present study aims to examine the associations of estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) with plasma concentrations of microRNA-192 (miR-192), pentraxin-3 (PTX-3), and transforming growth factor-beta1 (TGF-β1) to identify biomarkers able to distinguish late-stage from early-stage DN. Methods In total, 50 healthy volunteers and 271 diabetes patients were enrolled in this study. Participants were stratified into seven groups according to eGFR and glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c), healthy controls, diabetes without DN (G1), diabetes with mild renal impairment (G2), and 4 DN grades (G3a, G3b, G4, and G5). Results DN groups exhibited increases in serum miR-192 (p < 0.05), PTX-3(p < 0.05), TGF-β1(p < 0.05), malondialdehyde (p < 0.05), and xanthine oxidase (p < 0.05) levels and reductions in glutathione-s-transferase (p < 0.05) and superoxide dismutase (p < 0.05) compared to healthy controls. Among patients, eGFR was negatively correlated with miR-192, PTX-3, and TGF-β1, and positively correlated with HbA1c. In receiver operating characteristic curve analysis, miR-192 and PTX-3 demonstrated good diagnostic performance in distinguishing early from advanced DN. Conclusion Elevated serum miR-192 and PTX-3 are associated with lower eGFR in DN, suggesting their utility as diagnostic and prognostic biomarkers.