Serum miR-17 levels are downregulated in obese, African American women with elevated HbA1c.

Purpose: Type 2 diabetes is heterogeneous disease characterized by several conditions including hyperglycemia. It is estimated that over 350 million people worldwide are suffering from type 2 diabetes and this number is expected to rise. According to the CDC, African Americans were observed to have a 40% higher incidence of diabetes compared to European Americans. Epigenetic modulating mechanisms such as microRNAs (miRNAs), have recently been established as a massive regulatory machine in metabolic syndrome, obesity and type 2 diabetes. In the present study, we aimed to investigate the serum levels of circulating miRNA 17 (miR-17) of obese, African American women with elevated HbA.

Methods: We investigated miR-17 serum levels using qPCR. Then we used Pairwise Pearson Correlation Test to determine the relationship between clinical metabolic parameters and miR-17 serum levels.

Results: The results indicated that participants with elevated HbA exhibited a down regulation of serum miR-17 levels compared to participants with normal HbA. MiR-17 was also correlated with serum calcium in participants with normal HbA.

Conclusions: The results suggest that serum miR-17 is involved in the regulation of glucose and calcium homeostasis, which may contribute to the development of type 2 diabetes.