Abstract:

Objective To discuss the expression levels of the cyclin-dependent kinase 5 regulatory subunit associated protein 1-like 1（CDKAL1） gene and its splice isoforms in peripheral blood lymphocytes of the patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus （T2DM）， and to clarify their clinical significances. Methods A total of 65 diabetes mellitus patients were enrolled， including 20 T2DM patients （T2DM group）， 23 diabetic nephropathy（DN） patients （DN group）， 22 diabetic retinopathy（DR）patients （DR group）， and 28 healthy examiners at the same term（healthy control group）. Real-time fluorescence quantitative PCR （RT-qPCR） method was used to detect the expression levels of CDKAL1 gene and its two splice isoforms， CDKAL1-X1 and CDKAL1-X2， in peripheral blood lymphocytes of the subjects in various groups. The relationships between the clinical significances of their expressions and T2DM and its microvascular complications were analyzed. Results Compared with healthy control group， the expression levels of CDKAL1 gene （Z=4.705， P<0.01） and CDKAL1-X1 （Z=2.698， P=0.007） in peripheral blood lymphocytes of the patients in T2DM group were increased. Compared with healthy control group， the expression levels of CDKAL1 gene and CDKAL1-X1 in peripheral blood lymphocytes of the patients in DR and DN groups were increased（P<0.05）； the expression level of CDKAL1 gene in peripheral blood lymphocytes of the patients in DR group was higher than that in DN group （P<0.05）. Conclusion The high expressions of CDKAL1 gene and CDKAL1-X1 in peripheral blood lymphocytes of the T2DM patients may play an important role in the occurence and development of diabetic mellitus and its complications.

Key words: Type 2 diabetes mellitus, Cyclin-dependent kinase 5 regulatory subunit associated protein 1-like 1, Gene expression, Diabetic nephropathy, Diabetic retinopathy