Plasma Exosomal miRNAs Associated With Metabolism as Early Predictor of Gestational Diabetes Mellitus

Abstract

To date, the miRNA expression profile of plasma exosomes in women whose pregnancy is complicated by gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) has not been fully clarified. In this study, differentially expressed miRNAs in plasma exosomes were identified by high-throughput small-RNA sequencing in 12 pregnant women with GDM and 12 with normal glucose tolerance (NGT) and validated in 102 pregnant women with GDM and 101 with NGT. A total of 22 exosomal miRNAs were found, five of which were verified by real-time qPCR. Exosomal miR-423–5p was upregulated, whereas miR-122–5p, miR-148a-3p, miR-192–5p, and miR-99a-5p were downregulated in women whose pregnancy was complicated by GDM. IGF1R and GYS1 as target genes of miR-423–5p, and G6PC3 and FDFT1 as target genes of miR-122–5p were associated with insulin and AMPK signaling pathways and may participate in the regulation of metabolism in GDM. The five exosomal miRNAs had an area under the curve of 0.82 (95%CI, 0.73, ∼0.91) in early prediction of GDM. Our study demonstrates that dysregulated exosomal miRNAs in plasma from pregnant women with GDM might influence the insulin and AMPK signaling pathways and could contribute to the early prediction of GDM.