Diagnostic significance of serum lncRNA HOTAIR and its predictive value for the development of chronic complications in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus

BACKGROUND: Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) affects the social economy and quality of life, and has become a major threat to human health. This observation aimed to study the possibility of serum HOTAIR as a diagnostic index in patients with T2DM and to explore the prognostic potential of HOTAIR in the development of T2DM. METHODS: The expression of HOTAIR in serum of 96 patients with T2DM and 82 healthy controls was detected by the qRT-PCR technique. The related biochemical indexes of all participants were determined, such as total cholesterol (TC) and fasting blood glucose (FBG). The value of serum HOTAIR in the diagnosis of T2DM in the two groups was analyzed by the ROC curve. Moreover, the prognostic value of HOTAIR on T2DM was examined by the K-M curve and COX multivariate analysis. RESULTS: The results of the qRT-PCR analysis showed that the serum level of HOTAIR in patients with T2DM was significantly higher than that in healthy controls. ROC analysis showed that HOTAIR in serum was a diagnostic factor of T2DM. Further multivariate analysis showed that HOTAIR could be an independent biomarker in the prediction of chronic complications for T2DM patients, such as diabetic retinopathy and diabetic nephropathy. CONCLUSIONS: We found the augment of HOTAIR expression was a character of T2DM. The high expression of serum HOTAIR was a potential non-invasive diagnostic marker and independent prognostic factor in patients with T2DM.