The association of peripheral blood METTL3 mRNA expression levels with prediabetes and type 2 diabetes mellitus: the Henan rural cohort study.

AIM

We aimed to investigate the association of peripheral blood METTL3 (Methyltransferase Like 3) mRNA expression levels with impaired fasting glucose (IFG) and type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM).

MATERIALS AND METHODS

A case-control study including 1501 participants from the Henan Rural Cohort study was performed. Peripheral blood METTL3 mRNA expression levels were quantified by qRT-PCR. Binary logistic regression was used to generate odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) for the risk of IFG and T2DM. Restricted cubic spline was used to generate the dose-response relationship between METTL3 mRNA expression levels and IFG and T2DM.

RESULTS

METTL3 mRNA expression levels were downregulated in T2DM compared with normal glucose tolerance (NGT) (4.03 ± 1.09 vs. 3.96 ± 0.93). After adjusting covariates, the risk of developing IFG in METTL3 mRNA high expression levels group was 30% higher than that in the low expression levels group (OR = 1.30,95%CI:1.02,1.65). Conversely, METTL3 mRNA expression levels were negatively correlated with T2DM(OR = 0.83,95%CI:0.72,0.96) compared to the NGT group. METTL3 mRNA expression levels showed a non-linear correlation with both IFG and T2DM.

CONCLUSION

METTL3 mRNA expression levels exhibited opposing effects on IFG and T2DM. Elevated METTL3 mRNA levels were positively associated with IFG risk but inversely associated with T2DM risk.