Circulating Long Noncoding RNA Signatures Associate With Incident Diabetes in Older Adults: A Prospective Analysis From the VITA Cohort Study

OBJECTIVE: Long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) are involved in diabetogenesis in experimental models, yet their role in humans is unclear. We investigated whether circulating lncRNAs associate with incident type 2 diabetes in older adults. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS: A preselected panel of lncRNAs was measured in serum of individuals without diabetes (n = 296) from the Vienna Transdanube Aging study, a prospective community-based cohort study. Participants were followed up over 7.5 years. A second cohort of individuals with and without type 2 diabetes (n = 90) was used to validate our findings. RESULTS: Four lncRNAs (ANRIL, MIAT, RNCR3, and PLUTO) were associated with incident type 2 diabetes and linked to hemoglobin A(1c) trajectories throughout the 7.5-year follow-up. Similar results (for MIAT and PLUTO also in combined analysis) were obtained in the validation cohort. CONCLUSIONS: We found a set of circulating lncRNAs that independently portends incident type 2 diabetes in older adults years before disease onset.