Plasma small RNA profiling reveals a three-miRNA signature associated with early beta cell dysfunction across glucose tolerance stages
Authors' conclusion
This three-miRNA signature combined with simple clinical parameters constitutes a promising biomarker for early beta cell dysfunction and type 2 diabetes progression that deserves further validation in additional cohorts.
Study context
- Population
- Individuals with different levels of glucose tolerance undergoing oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) and/or mixed meal test; discovery cohort and validation cohort of 71 non-diabetic and 87 T2D individualsdiscovery cohort · 87 T2D individuals 158
- Participants
- 78 individuals
- Exposure
- Normal glucose tolerance (NGT) vs impaired glucose tolerance (IGT) vs Type 2 diabetes
- NGTn = 23
- IGTn = 22
- Type 2 diabetesn = 33
- Outcome
- Three-miRNA signature (miR-34a-5p, miR-1306-5p, miR-335-5p) + age + 1 h post-load glucose in LASSO model estimating beta cell rate sensitivity (RS)
Methodological detailsdiscovery and validation cohorts, small RNA sequencing, LASSO model
- Discovery and validation cohorts
- Small RNA sequencing
- LASSO model
Main finding
As reported in the abstract
MicroRNAs (miRNAs) differentially expressed across the three glucose tolerance groups (discovery cohort)
11
Discovery cohort: discrimination of rate sensitivity (RS) values, Spearman's ρ (p<0.05)
0.43
Validation cohort: model performance, Spearman's ρ (p<0.05)
0.23
Observational data: associations, not effects.
Further findings
Model with basal glucose substituted for 1 h post-load glucose (miRNAs and age retained)
- Discovery cohort: Spearman's ρ (p<0.05)
- 0.46
- Validation cohort: Spearman's ρ, not significant (p=0.061)
- 0.15
Original publication
Plasma small RNA profiling reveals a three-miRNA signature associated with early beta cell dysfunction across glucose tolerance stages. Diabetologia. Published 6 June 2026. doi:10.
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