July 29, 2026European Heart Journal186 citations
View Full PaperMicroRNA profiling unveils hyperglycaemic memory in the diabetic heart
Key Result
Intensive glycaemic control by insulin implants failed to rescue the dysregulation of 268 miRNAs in the diabetic mouse heart, providing insights into hyperglycaemic memory.
Key Points
- This study aims to explore how microRNAs contribute to hyperglycaemic memory in the diabetic heart.
- MicroRNA profiling was performed using Mouse miRNome miRNA PCR Arrays.
- Left ventricular specimens were collected from 4-month-old streptozotocin-induced diabetic mice.
- Intensive glycaemic control was achieved through slow-release insulin implants.
- Dysregulation of 316 miRNAs observed in diabetic hearts compared to controls (209 up-regulated, 107 down-regulated).
- 268 miRNAs remained significantly altered even after normoglycaemia.
- Dysregulated miRNAs implicated in pathways related to apoptosis, fibrosis, hypertrophic growth, autophagy, oxidative stress, and heart failure.
Structured PICO
P
Population
4-month-old streptozotocin-induced diabetic mice evaluated for myocardial miRNA landscape with or without intensive glycaemic control.
I
Intervention
Intensive glycaemic control by slow-release insulin implants
C
Comparator
Diabetic mice without intensive glycaemic control and non-diabetic controls
O
Outcome
miRNA landscape assessed by Mouse miRNome miRNA PCR Arrays in left ventricular specimenssurrogate
Intensive glycaemic control fails to reverse hyperglycaemia-induced miRNA dysregulation in the diabetic heart, suggesting a molecular mechanism for 'hyperglycaemic memory' and persistent diabetic cardiomyopathy.
Abstract
AIMS: Recent randomized trials suggest that intensive glycaemic control fails to reduce heart failure-related events in patients with diabetes. The molecular cues underlying persistent myocardial damage despite normoglycaemia restoration remain elusive. MicroRNAs (miRNAs), a class of small non-coding RNAs, orchestrate transcriptional programs implicated in adverse cardiac remodelling. The present study investigates whether miRNAs participate to hyperglycaemic memory in the diabetic heart. METHODS AND RESULTS: miRNA landscape was assessed by Mouse miRNome miRNA PCR Arrays in left ventricular specimens collected from 4-month-old streptozotocin-induced diabetic mice, with or without intensive glycaemic control by slow-release insulin implants. A dysregulation of 316 out of 1008 total miRNAs was observed in the diabetic hearts when compared with controls. Of these, 209 were up-regulated and 107 were down-regulated by >2.0-fold. Interestingly enough, the expression of 268 of those miRNAs remained significantly altered in diabetic mice even after subsequent normoglycaemia. Ingenuity pathway analysis revealed that dysregulated miRNAs were implicated in myocardial signalling networks triggering apoptosis (miR-320b, miR-378, miR-34a), fibrosis (miR-125b, miR-150, miR-199a, miR-29b, miR30a), hypertrophic growth (miR-1, miR-150, miR-199a, miR-133a, miR-214, miR-29a, miR-125b, miR-221, miR-212), autophagy (miR-133a, miR-221, miR-212, miR30a), oxidative stress (miR-221, miR-146a, miR-34a, miR-210, miR-19b, miR-125b, miR27a, miR-155), and heart failure (miR-423, miR-499, miR-199a), respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Glycaemic control is not able to rescue hyperglycaemia-induced alterations of miRNA landscape in the diabetic heart. These findings may provide novel insights to understand why diabetic cardiomyopathy progresses despite normalization of blood glucose levels.