Expression and Clinical Significance of Plasma miR-223 in Patients with Diabetic Nephropathy

Abstract

Background. MicroRNA-223 (miR-223) is associated with diabetes and kidney diseases and serves as a novel marker for diagnosing diabetic kidney disease (DKD). This study was conducted to investigate the plasma expression of miR-223 and its clinical significance in type 2 diabetes (T2DM) and diabetic nephropathy (DN) patients. Methods. In this research, 20 patients with T2DM and DN, 19 patients with T2DM, and 17 healthy volunteers were finally enrolled. miR-223 expression was detected by quantitative real-time PCR (qPCR), and the diagnostic value of miR-223 in DN was further analyzed. Results. miR-223 was downregulated in the DN group compared to that in the T2DM group ($P=0.031$) and the control group ($P<0.001$). Pearson’s correlation analysis showed a negative correlation of miR-223 levels with an albumin-creatinine ratio (ACR) (r = −0.481; $P=0.044$), urine β2-microglobulin (β2-MG) (r = −0.494; $P=0.037$), urine α1-microglobulin (α1-MG) (r = −0.537; $P=0.022$), creatinine (Cr) (r = −0.664; $P<0.01$), cystatin C (Cyc-C) (r = −0.553; $P=0.017$), and glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA1c) (r = −0.761; $P<0.01$). The findings of a binary regression analysis indicated that miR-223, ACR, Cr, and α1-MG were the risk factors for DN (OR: 2.019, 1.166, 1.031, and 1.031; all $P<0.05$). Furthermore, miR-223 had a favorable diagnostic value for DN (AUC: 0.752; sensitivity: 0.722; specificity: 0.842) (2.5 was utilized as the diagnostic cutoff point). Conclusion. miR-223 was lowly expressed in DN patients, and the evaluation of miR-223 may be a good approach for diagnosing DN.