Relationship between MicroRNA-146a Expression and some Cytokines in Patients with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus

Abstract

Type2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is characterized as a chronic inflammatory metabolic disease. The association between miR-146a expression, inflammatory cytokines, and T2DM pathogenesis remains incompletely understood. Objective: To investigate the correlation between microRNA-146a expression and inflammatory cytokines in T2DM patients. This case-control study was conducted at Al-Zahraa Teaching Hospital in Wasit, Iraq, from November 2025 to March 2026. The study included 135 T2DM patients (71.9% male, 28.1% female) and 100 healthy controls aged 40-60 years, with the majority being overweight or obese. Cytokine levels were measured using ELISA kits. MicroRNA-146a expression was determined by RT-qPCR using the 2^−ΔΔCt method. In T2DM patients, serum IL-4, IL-6, TNF-α, and IFN-α levels were significantly elevated (p < 0.0001), while IL-10 levels were significantly decreased (p < 0.001) compared to controls. Moreover, miR-146a expression was significantly upregulated in patients (1.35 vs 0.69, p=0.001). MiR-146a showed strong positive correlations with pro-inflammatory cytokines, while negatively correlating with IL-10. ROC analysis demonstrated high diagnostic performance, with TNF-α and miR-146a showing the highest AUC values (0.91 and 0.89, respectively). These results demonstrate significant associations between inflammatory dysregulation, miR-146a expression, and T2DM progression.