Expression of Leptin mRNA can be used as biomarker for diagnosing diabetes, study finds
Leptin mRNA expression can be used as a predictive and diagnostic biomarker for type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM).
Saudi Arabia: The study published in the International Journal of Clinical Practice showed that a reduced level of leptin mRNA expression is significantly associated with type 2 diabetes. And, can be used as a diagnostic and predictive biomarker for T2DM.
Leptin is a protein secreted by white adipose tissue that participates in the regulation of body weight by increasing energy intake and decreasing food intake. It plays a role in the regulation of body weight, energy balance, and glucose metabolism. Rowyda N. Al-Harithy and Amani S. Alomari from King AbdulAziz University, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, aimed to evaluate leptin mRNA expression as a predictive biomarker in T2DM.
The researchers performed a Quantitative Real-Time Polymerase Chain reaction (qRT-PCR) on samples collected from 71 T2DM patients and 32 non-diabetic controls. to detect the expression patterns of leptin mRNA. To assess the discriminatory power of leptin mRNA, the Receiver Operating Characteristic Curve (ROC) was utilized.
The research yielded the following findings:
- leptin mRNA levels were reduced significantly in diabetic patients compared to non-diabetic controls.
- The ROC curve analysis showed a significant association between leptin mRNA levels and T2DM, with a high area under the ROC curve (AUC) of 0.95.
- The analysis also showed that FBG and HbA1c had high AUC values of 0.88 and 0.97with respectively.
The researchers concluded, "our study shows that the reduced leptin mRNA expression level is significantly associated with T2DM and could be used as a predictive and diagnostic biomarker for T2DM."
Reference:
The study titled, "Expression of Leptin mRNA as Non-Invasive Biomarker in Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus," is published in the International Journal of Clinical Practice.
DOI: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/ijcp.14844
