Decreased A20 mRNA and protein expression in peripheral blood mononuclear cells in patients with type 2 diabetes and latent autoimmune diabetes in adults.

AIMS

A20 is a negative regulator of nuclear factor kappa B activation and the central gatekeeper in inflammation and immunity. While its role in type 1 diabetes has been widely studied, its expression level in immune cells from type 2 diabetes (T2D) and latent autoimmune diabetes in adult (LADA) patients remains unclear. This study aimed to clarify whether the expression of A20 is altered in patients with T2D or LADA.

METHODS

Quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction and western blotting were utilized to determine the expression of A20 mRNA and protein respectively in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) from patients with T2D (n=36) or LADA (n=17) and sex- and age-matched healthy controls (n=34).

RESULTS

The mRNA and protein expression of A20 in PBMCs from T2D and LADA patients was significantly decreased compared with healthy controls (P<0.05). Furthermore, A20 mRNA and protein expression was significantly lower in newly diagnosed T2D patients (≤1 year since diagnosis) than in patients with a long T2D duration (>1 year since diagnosis) (P<0.05).

CONCLUSIONS

Our results suggest that decreased expression of A20 in PBMCs may be involved in the pathogenesis of diabetes, and targeting A20 may offer a potential therapeutic tool in the treatment of diabetes.