Role of cell free microRNA-19a and microRNA-19b in gestational diabetes mellitus patients.

Gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) is associated with adverse pregnancy outcomes in pregnant women and it's prevalence is increasing worldwide. A total 100 cases of GDM and 100 healthy controls were included in a study and blood samples were collected in plain vials from all study participant. Difference among several variables which included BMI, glycemia, insulinaemia, HbA1c, total cholesterol, triglycerides, urinary albumin were compared between GDM cases and controls and were found to be statistically significant (p < 0.0001). Additionally, GDM cases showed 4.0 fold increase in miRNA-19a and 4.7 mean increase in miRNA-19b expression compared to healthy control individuals. A positive correlation was observed between miRNA-19a and miRNA-19b among GDM cases. However the correlation coefficient was 0.13 between miRNA-19a and miRNA-19b. This suggested that with the increase in miRNA-19a, miRNA-19b also increased. The findings of this study concludes that an increase in microRNA-19a and microRNA-19b is observed in GDM cases and could be linked with increased risk factor for worsening of the disease. MicroRNA-19a and 19b have been linked to alcoholism and smoking and could also be the factors in GDM. © King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology 2019.