Screening marker genes of type 2 diabetes mellitus in mouse lacrimal gland by LASSO regression

Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is characterized by insulin resistance and a relative deficiency of insulin. This study aims to screen T2DM-related maker genes in the mouse extraorbital lacrimal gland (ELG) by LASSO regression.C57BLKS/J strain with leptin db/db homozygous mice (T2DM, n = 20) and wild-type mice (WT, n = 20) were used to collect data. The ELGs were collected for RNA sequencing. LASSO regression was conducted to screen marker genes with the training set. Five genes were selected from 689 differentially expressed genes by LASSO regression, including Synm, Elovl6, Glcci1, Tnks and Ptprt. Expression of Synm was downregulated in ELGs of T2DM mice. Elovl6, Glcci1, Tnks, and Ptprt were upregulated in T2DM mice. Area under receiver operating curve of the LASSO model was 1.000(1.000–1.000) and 0.980(0.929–1.000) in the training set and the test set, respectively. The C-index and the robust C-index of the LASSO model were 1.000 and 0.999, respectively, in the training set, and 1.000 and 0.978, respectively, in the test set. In the lacrimal gland of db/db mice, Synm, Elovl6, Glcci1, Tnks and Ptprt can be used as marker genes of T2DM. Abnormal expression of marker genes is related to lacrimal gland atrophy and dry eye in mice.