Review
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2023. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Diabetes. Jul 15, 2023; 14(7): 958-976
Published online Jul 15, 2023. doi: 10.4239/wjd.v14.i7.958
Novel insights regarding the role of noncoding RNAs in diabetes
Mirjana T Macvanin, Zoran Gluvic, Vladan Bajic, Esma R Isenovic
Mirjana T Macvanin, Vladan Bajic, Esma R Isenovic, Department of Radiobiology and Molecular Genetics, Vinča Institute of Nuclear Sciences - National Institute of the Republic of Serbia, University of Belgrade, Belgrade 11000, Serbia
Zoran Gluvic, Department of Endocrinology and Diabetes, Clinic for Internal Medicine, Zemun Clinical Hospital, School of Medicine, University of Belgrade, Belgrade 11000, Serbia
Author contributions: Macvanin MT wrote the article, Gluvic Z wrote the article, Bajic V wrote the article, and Isenovic ER wrote and critically reviewed the article; All authors have read and approved the final manuscript.
Conflict-of-interest statement: Dr. Gluvic reports grants from the research was funded by the Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development of the Republic of Serbia (Contract No. 451-03-47/2023-01/200017), during the conduct of the study.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Zoran Gluvic, MD, PhD, Associate Professor, Department of Endocrinology and Diabetes, Clinic for Internal Medicine, Zemun Clinical Hospital, School of Medicine, University of Belgrade, Vukova 9, Belgrade 11000, Serbia. zorangluvic@yahoo.com
Received: December 23, 2022
Peer-review started: December 23, 2022
First decision: April 11, 2023
Revised: May 1, 2023
Accepted: May 22, 2023
Article in press: May 22, 2023
Published online: July 15, 2023
Abstract

Diabetes mellitus (DM) is a group of metabolic disorders defined by hyperglycemia induced by insulin resistance, inadequate insulin secretion, or excessive glucagon secretion. In 2021, the global prevalence of diabetes is anticipated to be 10.7% (537 million people). Noncoding RNAs (ncRNAs) appear to have an important role in the initiation and progression of DM, according to a growing body of research. The two major groups of ncRNAs implicated in diabetic disorders are miRNAs and long noncoding RNAs. miRNAs are single-stranded, short (17–25 nucleotides), ncRNAs that influence gene expression at the post-transcriptional level. Because DM has reached epidemic proportions worldwide, it appears that novel diagnostic and therapeutic strategies are required to identify and treat complications associated with these diseases efficiently. miRNAs are gaining attention as biomarkers for DM diagnosis and potential treatment due to their function in maintaining physiological homeostasis via gene expression regulation. In this review, we address the issue of the gradually expanding global prevalence of DM by presenting a complete and up-to-date synopsis of various regulatory miRNAs involved in these disorders. We hope this review will spark discussion about ncRNAs as prognostic biomarkers and therapeutic tools for DM. We examine and synthesize recent research that used novel, high-throughput technologies to uncover ncRNAs involved in DM, necessitating a systematic approach to examining and summarizing their roles and possible diagnostic and therapeutic uses.

Keywords: Noncoding RNA, miRNA, Diabetes, Circulating miRNA biomarkers, Therapeutic target, CRISPR/Cas9 system

Core tip: Diabetes mellitus is a chronic endocrinopathy characterized by disrupted glucose, lipid, and amino acid metabolism and has reached pandemic proportions. A vast body of evidence demonstrates that miRNAs play a key role in diabetic pathophysiology. Here, we explore numerous regulatory miRNAs involved in DM and discuss their potential diagnostic and therapeutic applications.