Correlation between circulating microRNA and lipid indicesin patients with ischemic heart disease and type 2 diabetes mellitus

Abstract

The aim of the study was to investigate circulating miRNAs-27a, -221 levels and their correlations with lipid indices in patients with ischemic heart disease (IHD) and type 2 diabetes mellitus. Materials and methods. The study included 58 patients with stable IHD and type 2 diabetes mellitus, 22 IHD patients without diabetes and 19 healthy controls. MicroRNAs-27a-3р and 221-3р were determined in blood plasma by real time polymerase chain reaction. U6 small nuclear RNA was used for normalization. Results. The lowest levels of circulating miRNAs-27a and -221 were in IHD patients with diabetes. The decrease in the levels of both microRNAs in patients with diabetes was significant not only in comparison with the control group (P = 0.024, P = 0.006), but also with patients without diabetes (P = 0.011, P = 0.001). In IHD patients without diabetes, microRNAs-27a and -221 levels did not change significantly. In IHD patients with diabetes, microRNA-221 showed a significant positive correlation with high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) (R = 0.382, P = 0.003). MicroRNA-27a was correlated negatively with triglycerides (TG) (R = -0.284, P = 0.051) and positively – with HDL-C (R = 0.257, P = 0.078) at a borderline significance level. The lower level of microRNA-27a (the 1st tertile) was associated with significantly increased TG level in comparison with the 3rd tertile (P = 0.004), and significantly decreased HDL-C level in comparison with the 2nd (P = 0.001) and the 3rd (P = 0.023) tertiles. Patients with lower microRNA-221 level (the 1st tertile) had significantly reduced HDL-C level in comparison with the 3rd tertile(P = 0.007). Conclusions. The results have demonstrated the significant decrease in circulating microRNAs-27a and -221 levels in IHD patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus and no change in both microRNAs in patients without diabetes. In IHD patients with diabetes, the lower expression of microRNA-27a was associated with the significant elevation of TG and the significant decrease in HDL-C. The lower microRNA-221 level was associated only with the significant decrease in HDL-C.