Research Article Plasma miR-126 Is a Potential Biomarker for Early Prediction of Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus

Copyright © 2013 Tao Zhang et al. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is a major public health problem in China. Diagnostic markers are urgently needed to identify individuals at risk of developing T2DMand encourage them to adapt to a healthier life style. CirculatingmiRNAs present important sources of noninvasive biomarkers of various diseases. Recently, a novel plasma microRNA signature was identified in T2DM. Here, we evaluated the T2DM-related miRNA signature in plasma of three study groups: normal (fasting glucose (FG), 4.8– 5.2mmol/L), T2DM-susceptible (FG, 6.1–6.9mmol/L), and T2DM individuals (FG, ≥7.0mmol/L) and tested the feasibility of using circulating miRNAs to identify individuals at risk of developing T2DM. Among the 5 miRNAs included in the signature, miR-29