Abstract

Analysis of micro-RNAs and gene expression profiles in gestational diabetes mellitus

Gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) is a metabolic disorder characterized by insulin resistance. Lack of complete mechanisms involved in its pathophysiology makes its early diagnosis and treatment a difficult task. Recently, micro-RNAs are associated with many diseases including GDM. Its high stability in biological fluids and the ability to modulate genes at large scale makes it potent bio-markers. Here, we analyzed the transcriptomic datasets (GSE98043 and GSE19649) to gain a deeper understanding of the role of miRNAs in GDM. We processed and analyzed the microarray datasets to find differentially expressed miRNAs. Then we used a consensus approach to find the predicted as well as validated GDM related target genes. We then constructed the miRNA-mRNA gene regulatory module to have a better understanding of its regulation. These target genes were further enriched for their functions and pathways. We identified a total of 128 DE miRNAs, of which the top 20 were selected for downstream processing, and 49 validated GDM related target genes among predicted ones that may contribute to the regulatory alterations behind GDM.

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