Radojičić, Ognjen Nedić, Olgica Miković, Željko Mandić Marković, Vesna Gligorijević, Nikola Robajac, Dragana Dobrijević, Zorana info:eu-repo/semantics/article Springer gestational diabetes, miR-27a, miR-222, miR-340, PBMC ABSTRACT Background: Dysregulation of microRNA-based mechanisms is associated with various human pathologies, including gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM), suggesting they may be potential diagnostic and/or prognostic biomarkers of GDM. Methods: The expression of miR-340-5p, miR-27a-3p and miR 222-3p in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) obtained from patients with GDM (n = 42) and healthy controls (n = 34) were evaluated, together with their correlation to the clinical parameters of participants and their newborns. Expression of the selected microRNAs was quantified by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qPCR), after reverse transcription with microRNA-specific stem-loop primers. Results: The expression of miR-27a-3p was significantly higher in patients with GDM than in controls (p = 0.036), whereas no significant difference between groups was found for the other two tested microRNAs. The expression level of miR-27a-3p in GDM patients was found to negatively correlate with the number of erythrocytes, concentration of haemoglobin, haematocrit, and low- and high-density lipoprotein (LDL/HDL) ratio, and positively with the concentration of glycated haemoglobin (HbA1c). In the case of miR-222-3p, a negative correlation between its expression and the concentration of cholesterol, LDL and LDL/HDL ratio was found only in healthy pregnant women. The expression level of miR-340-5p negatively correlated with erythrocyte count, haemoglobin concentration and haematocrit in GDM patients, as well as with the concentration of cholesterol, LDL and LDL/HDL ratio in healthy women. Conclusions: The results obtained illustrate the potential of PBMC-derived microRNA miR-27a-3p to serve as a diagnostic biomarker of GDM. On the other hand, MiR-27a and miR-340 may help in assessing the metabolic status relevant for pregnancy. "Accepted version" application/pdf 935581 bytes Gestational diabetes is associated with an increased expression of miR-27a in peripheral blood mononuclear cells Molecular Diagnosis & Therapy vol. 26 br. 4 str. 421-435 All rights reserved 2022 eng https://phaidrabg.bg.ac.rs/o:34488 doi:10.1007/s40291-022-00591-5