Micro RNA in Degenerative Disorders

Abstract

Obesity and type 2 diabetes mellitus are considered as the most risk criteria in metabolic syndrome. Twenty four 3 months old male albino rats, weighting (120±15) gm were purchased from animal house at the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Zagazig University, Egypt. After acclimatization at 23-25°C, 12 h light-dark cycle and free availability of water and diet, rats were allocated into 2 main groups. The first group (G1) was a control group (8 rats) that was kept on a standard diet with free access to drinking water. The second group (G2) was consisted of 16 rats that were kept on high fat high fructose diet (HFHF), which then was subdivided into 2 equal subgroups, G2.1 and G2.2. Subgroup G2.1 was kept for 7 wk (Obese animals). Subgroup G2.2 was kept for 12 wk (Type II diabetic animals). Feeding HFHF diet resulted in marked increase in body weight in both obese and diabetic groups, then started to decrease and stopped between 7th and 8th wk till the end of the experiment. Moreover, HFHF diet decreased the expression levels of insulin hormone gene which was reflected on the increase in the expression levels of fibroblast growth factor 21 (FGF-21), interleukin 1 beta (IL-1β), interleukin 6 (IL-6) and tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α) genes. The highest level of IL-1β was recorded in the diabetic animals (G2.2). While the maximum FGF-21 gene detection in obese group (G2.1). On the other hand, IL-6 and TNF-α equally increased in both groups. Hitopathologically, hepatic tissues reveled fatty change with pancreatic atrophy in both HFHF diet treated groups. The results showed that, feeding HFHF diet resulted in increasing the expression levels of regulatory miRNA 146a and miRNA 126 genes. It could be concluded that the expression levels of miRNA 146a, miRNA 126, FGF 21 and some cytokines may be a good early indicator for obesity and diabetes mellitus type II, having a major role in the mechanism of incidence and may have a great role in the treatment and follow-up the disease.