Study offers new insight into link between type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease
The Peninsula
Doha, Qatar: A new study by researchers at Weill Cornell Medicine Qatar (WCM Q) has unveiled significant insights into the dysregulation of long non c...
Doha, Qatar: A new study by researchers at Weill Cornell Medicine-Qatar (WCM-Q) has unveiled significant insights into the dysregulation of long non-coding RNA (lncRNA) gene expression pathways in monocytes of patients with type 2 diabetes (T2D) who also suffer from cardiovascular disease (CVD).
The research was conducted in collaboration with Hamad Medical Corporation (HMC) and Weill Cornell Medicine in New York and led by Dr. Charbel Abi Khalil, associate professor of medicine at WCM-Q.
Monocytes are a type of white blood cell that play a pivotal role in the development of cardiovascular complications in T2D patients. The study investigated the changes in lncRNA genes induced by diabetes in patients with CVD, long-duration diabetes, and poor glycemic control.
Researchers conducted paired-end RNA sequencing on monocytes from 37 non-diabetic controls and 120 T2D patients, 86 of whom had either macrovascular or microvascular disease, or both. Monocytes were sorted from peripheral blood using flow cytometry, and their RNA was purified and sequenced. Utilizing advanced bioinformatics tools, the team analyzed the data to identify differentially expressed genes (DEGs) and lncRNAs highly associated with diabetes-related expression networks.
The study found two significantly upregulated lncRNAs and one significantly downregulated lncRNA in T2D patients compared to non-diabetic controls. Pathway analysis on DEGs revealed networks affecting cellular movement, growth, and development. Co-expression analysis identified a key diabetes network-associated lncRNA. Further analysis within T2D patients and CVD revealed one lncRNA upregulated in monocytes from patients with microvascular disease without clinically documented macrovascular disease. The study also identified specific lncRNAs associated with long-duration diabetes and poor glycemic control.
