Dysregulation of miR-210 is involved in the development of diabetic retinopathy and serves a regulatory role in retinal vascular endothelial cell proliferation

• Main Authors: Chengyu Yin, Xiangqiang Lin, Yafei Sun, Xinli Ji
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: BMC 2020-05-01
• Series: European Journal of Medical Research
• Subjects: Diabetic retinopathy; MicroRNA-210; Diabetes mellitus; Diagnosis; Vascular endothelial cell; Proliferation
• Online Access: http://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s40001-020-00416-3

Abstract Background Diabetic retinopathy is a common complication of diabetes mellitus (DM). The purpose of this study was to investigate the expression and clinical significance of miR-210 in DR patients and explore the regulatory effect of miR-210 on vascular endothelial cell function under high-glucose condition. Methods Quantitative real-time PCR was used to estimate miR-210 expression. A receiver operating characteristics curve (ROC) was plotted to evaluate the diagnostic value of miR-210. Human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) were used and treated with high glucose (30 mM), and the cell proliferation was assessed by MTT assay. Results Serum expression of miR-210 was upregulated in DR patients compared with DM without DR patients and healthy controls. The expression of miR-210 in proliferative DR (PDR) patients was higher than non-proliferative DR (NPDR) patients. The increased serum miR-210 could be used to distinguish DR cases from healthy individuals and also simple DM patients, and can screen PDR cases from NPDR cases. The overexpression of miR-210 promoted HUVEC proliferation, while the knockdown of miR-210 resulted in the opposite effect under a high-glucose condition. Conclusion The data of this study demonstrated that serum increased miR-210 serves as a diagnostic biomarker in DR patients and may have the ability to predict DR development and severity. The regulatory effect of miR-210 on vascular endothelial cell proliferation under high-glucose condition, indicating its therapeutic potential in the treatment of diabetic vascular diseases.