Ratios of peripheral blood mononuclear cells to lncRNA steroid receptor RNA activator as new indicators of metabolic syndrome

Introduction: Metabolic syndrome (MetS) is a clinical syndrome with several characteristics. Steroid receptor RNA activator (SRA) is a long non-coding RNA (lncRNA), which can increase the expression of steroid receptor-dependent gene. This study aimed to explore the changes in metabolic parameters and the predictive value of the peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) to SRA ratios as new indicators in subjects with and without MetS in southern China. Material and methods: There were 81 participants (39 with MetS and 42 without MetS) in this cross-sectional study. The expression of lncRNAs in PBMCs was evaluated by quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR). The risks of SRA and PBMCs to SRA ratios contributing to the presence of MetS were estimated by univariate and multivariate logistic regression models. The area under the receiver (AUC) operating characteristic curve was employed to evaluate diagnostic accuracy. Results: MetS was positively correlated with cortisol, interleukin 6 (IL-6), white blood cell to SRA ratio (WTSR),  lymphocyte to SRA ratio (LTSR), monocyte to SRA ratio (MTSR), and PBMC to SRA ratio (PTSR). A receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis was performed to assess the value of LTSR (OR: 0.722; p < 0.001) for predicting MetS. The area under the curve yielded a cut-off value of 0.483, with a sensitivity of 76.9% and a specificity of 71.4% (p < 0.001). Conclusion: In summary, SRA in PBMCs may be an important biomarker of stress reaction and may play a role in vulnerability to MetS. Also, the lymphocyte to SRA ratio demonstrated high accuracy in the diagnosis of MetS

PBMCs to Stress-Associated miR-18a-5p and miR-22-3p Ratios as New Indicators of Metabolic Syndrome

Purpose. Metabolic syndrome (MetS) is associated with chronic stress. miR-18a-5p and miR-22-3p are two miRNAs which can target the glucocorticoid receptor. This study looked at the changes in metabolic parameters and the predictive value of the peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) to stress-associated miRNA ratios as new indicators in subjects with and without MetS in southern China. Patients and Methods. There were 81 participants (39 with MetS and 42 without MetS) in this cross-sectional study. The potential miRNAs were filtrated in the GEO database. The expression of miR-18a-5p and miR-22-3p in PBMCs was evaluated by quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR). The risk of miRNA and PBMCs to stress-associated miRNA ratios contributing to the presence of MetS was estimated by univariate and multivariate logistic regression models. The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) was used to evaluate diagnostic accuracy. Results. MetS was positively correlated with cortisol, IL-6, lymphocyte to miR-18a-5p ratio (LT18R), lymphocyte to miR-22-3p ratio (LT22R), monocyte to miR-18a-5p ratio (MT18R), monocyte to miR-22-3p ratio (MT22R), PBMCs to miR-18a-5p ratio (PT18R), and PBMCs to miR-22-3p ratio (PT22R) and negatively associated with the expression levels of miR-18a-5p and miR-22-3p (P<0.05). In addition, PT18R (odds ratio: 0.894; 95% CI: 0.823-0.966; P<0.001) and PT22R (odds ratio: 0.809; 95% CI: 0.717-0.900; P<0.001) were independent predictors of MetS, respectively. A receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis was performed to assess the value of the PT18R-PT22R (PMR) panel (odds ratio: 0.905; 95% CI: 0.838-0.971; P<0.001) for predicting MetS. The area under the curve yielded a cut-off value of 0.608, with sensitivity of 74.4% and specificity of 95.2% (P<0.001). Conclusion. In summary, miR-18a-5p and miR-22-3p in PBMCs may be important biomarkers of stress reaction and may play a role in vulnerability to MetS. Besides, the inflammatory cells to the two miRNA ratios demonstrated high accuracy in the diagnosis of MetS