Objectives: This study aimed to explore the correlations of Lnc-UCA1/miR-138 axis with gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) risk and neonatal prognosis.
Material and methods: First, the blood samples from sixty GDM patients and 60 healthy pregnant women were collected to detect the change of Lnc-UCA1/miR-138 axis by using real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR). The clinical characteristics of GDM patients, healthy controls, and neonates were recorded. Then, the correlation analysis of Lnc-UCA1, miR-138, and Lnc-UCA1/miR-138 axis levels with clinicopathological characteristics was performed to explore the clinical value of Lnc-UCA1/miR-138 axis in GDM. Finally, the specificity and sensitivity of Lnc-UCA1, miR-138, and Lnc-UCA1/miR-138 axis for GDM diagnosis was evaluated using receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves.
Results: Our present study found that, when compared with healthy pregnancies, the expression levels of Lnc-UCA1 and miR-138 were increased and decreased, respectively, and Lnc-UCA1/miR-138 axis profile was elevated. Second, Lnc-UCA1 and Lnc-UCA1/miR-138 axis were positively correlated with fasting glucose, one-hour glucose, and two-hour glucose, while miR-138 showed the opposite trend. Furthermore, the area under the ROC curve (AUC) were 0.8196, 0.8021, and 0.8901 for diagnostic efficiencies of Lnc-UCA1, miR-138, and Lnc-UCA1/miR-138, respectively. In addition, higher profiles of Lnc-UCA1 were correlated with birth asphyxia of neonate.
Conclusions: Circulating Lnc-UCA1/miR-138 axis might be involved in the pathogenesis of GDM and could function as a novel and effective biomarker for GDM risk and neonatal prognosis.
Keywords: LncRNA; disease severity; gestational diabetes mellitus; miRNA.