No abstract

Background. Albuminuria is an early clinical indicator of diabetic kidney disease (DKD). however, it has several limitations. The aim of this study was to evaluate the plasma microrNA-192 (mirNA-192) expression and its diagnostic performance in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) and DKD. Methods. In this case-control study, 75 subjects were included into 3 groups: group (1): 20 patients with T2DM and UACr (urinary albumin creatinine ratio) < 30 mg/gm, group (2): 30 patients with T2DM and ACr ≥ 30 mg/gm, and group (3): 25 healthy controls. Patients were recruited from the outpatient clinic of the Diabetes unit at our institution. real-Time Quantitative reverse Transcription PCr was used to assess plasma mirNA-192 expression. Results. Plasma miRNA-192 was significantly higher in T2DM patients with DKD compared to those with normal UAE. Additionally, in patients with T2DM, plasma mirNA-192 was positively correlated with UACr. The rOC curve analysis for mirNA-192 plasma expression in patients with T2DM, revealed that mirNA-192 had a good diagnostic performance (AUC = 0.778) to define T2DM patients with DKD. Conclusion. Plasma expression of mirNA-192 was able to discriminate increased UAE among patients with T2DM; suggesting a promising role for mirNA-192 as a potential biomarker for DKD.