A negative feedback loop of H19/miR-675/EGR1 is involved in diabetic nephropathy by downregulating the expression of the vitamin D receptor.

Aim: We aimed to explore the regulatory relationship among the long noncoding RNA H19, micorRNA-675 (miR-675), the vitamin D (VD) receptor (VDR), and the early growth response protein 1 (EGR1) in the pathogenesis of diabetic nephropathy (DN) among patients with diabetes mellitus (DM).

Methods: Expression levels of H19, miR-675, VDR, and EGR in patients or CIHP-1/HEK 293 cells were measured via quantitative reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction and western blot analysis. Computational analysis and luciferase assays were performed to determine EGR1 as a target gene of miR-675.