Profile of MicroRNAs in Type 2 Diabetic Patients Positive for COVID-19 in Nasopharyngeal Secretions in Pointe-Noire

Introduction: The COVID-19 pandemic has had a disproportionate impact on people with certain underlying conditions, including type 2 diabetes (T2D). It is therefore essential to identify biomarkers such as microRNAs allowing patient stratification and thus contributing to better care. Objective: This study aimed to analyze the profile of microRNAs in type 2 diabetic patients with COVID-19 in nasopharyngeal secretions in Pointe-Noire. Methods: We recruited a total of 206 participants for this study. Detailed information on participants' age, gender, body mass, and health status was collected from medical records. MicroRNAs were quantified from the nasopharyngeal samples using qPCR. The study consisted of researching 17 microRNAs. Results: The majority of patients were men (70.39%), aged 40 – 69 years (77.69%) and obese (66.02%). Severe symptoms (67%) of COVID-19 and comorbidities (57.77%) were more common. The area under the ROC curve (AUC) was calculated to analyse the prognostic performance of microRNAs associated with a COVID-19+DT2 microRNA hsa-miR-33a-5p (AUC 0.85; CI 0.75 to 0.95 and p<0.000) and hsa-miR-486-5p (AUC 0.93; CI 0.85 to 1.00 and p<0. 000) were significant predictors of mortality and three hsa-miR21-3p (AUC 0.90; CI 0.83 to 0.98 and p<0.000), miR33b-5p (AUC 0.83; CI 0.72 to 0.94 and p<0.000) and miR29a-5p (AUC 0.85; CI 0.76 to 0.94 and p<0.000) as biomarkers predicting cure. Conclusion: This study showed that hsa-miR33a-5p, hsa-miR486-5p, hsa-miR21-3p, has-miR33b-5p and miR29a-5p in nasopharyngeal secretions with excellent discrimination could be used as prognostic biomarkers in subjects with covid-19 in the context of type 2 diabetes.