Abstract
Background We aim to identify circulating lncRNAs located in the region of theghrelin(GHRL) gene that play a role in the development of T2DM. Methods Bioinformatic tool was used to identify candidatesGHRL-lncRNAs. Quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) was used to compare the expression levels of selected lncRNAs on diabetic patients and non-diabetic controls. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis was performed to evaluate the discriminatory power of selectedGHRL-lncRNAs. Results The bioinformatic analysis predicted three antisense and eight sense-intronicGHRL- lncRNAs. Two differentially expressedGHRL-lncRNAs were detected in diabetic patients. The expression levels oflnc-GHRL-3:2, lnc-GHRL-3:3, and theGHRLmRNA were significantly (p <= .0001) lower in the diabetic patients. ROC analysis showed that the area under the curve (AUC) value was 0.93 forlnc-GHRL-3:2and 0.90 forlnc-GHRL-3:3. Conclusion lnc-GHRL-3:2 and lnc-GHRL-3:3 are novel biomarkers and might play a regulatory role in T2DM pathogenesis.