ABSTRACT
Objective:To investigate the effect of metformin on the microRNA (miRNA) expression and screen potential target with network pharmacology analysis in patients with type 2 diabetes.Methods:Fifteen patients with new diagnosed type 2 diabetes admitted to our hospital were selected, who received metformin during hospitalization and after discharge. The expression of serum matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)-9, transforming growth factor (TGF)-β1, and myocardial fibrosis related miRNAs were compared before and 6 month after metformin treatment. In addition, gene ontology (GO) and KEGG pathway enrichment analysis were applied to analyze differential expression miRNAs showing statistical significance. Meanwhile, the network figure was established to reflect the target gene messenger RNA (mRNA) corresponding to differentially expressed miRNA.Results:Compared with pre-medication, the serum level of MMP-9 was significantly decreased after treatment ( P<0.05). Besides, the expression of homo sapiens microRNA (hsa-miR)29a-3p, hsa-miR133a-5p, hsa-miR21-5p, hsa-miR30c-5p, and hsa-miR1-3p in patients with type 2 diabetes were dramatically down-regulated by metformin ( P<0.05 or P<0.01). Results of GO analysis and KEGG pathway enrichment analysis showed that differentially expressed miRNAs were mainly concentrated in endoplasmic reticulum lumen, synapse, basement membrane and other cell components. The molecular functions such as Rho GTPase binding and participation in extracellular matrix structural constituent were exerted through biological processes such as collagen catabolic process, regulation of short-term neuronal synaptic plasticity, and axon extension, which were mainly enriched in advanced glycation end products-receptor for advanced glycation end products (AGE-RAGE) signaling pathway in diabetic complications, tumor necrosis factor (TNF) signaling pathway, and Wnt signaling pathway, etc. The outcome of miRNA-mRNA network analysis demonstrated that there were 230 target genes mRNAs corresponding to differentially expressed miRNA. Conclusion:Metformin could play its role in the treatment of type 2 diabetes by down regulating the expression of miRNA, participating in the transduction of related cellular signaling pathways, regulating chromatin, nucleic acid binding, and enzyme activities.