Diabetes mellitus (DM) is a common health problem worldwide and has one of the highest health care expenditure, burden, mortality and morbidity in the world. The marked hyperglycemia associated with diabetes gives rise to serious micro vascular and macro vascular complications and damage of many body’s systems. At least 13.9% of adults suffer from diabetes in Iraq, according to data published by the World Health Organization in 2020. Therefore, it is required to intensify conducting research studies required for the factors and diagnosis of the disease. Recently, it was found that long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) have associations in various biological processes, including glucose balance, and in this way, they can be considered a cause of diabetes and its complications. HOTAIR (transcription of HOX antisense RNA) is a lncRNA composed of 2158 nucleotides located on human chromosome 12q1. It upregulates indirectly the LPS-induced glucose transporter 1 (GLUT1), which increases glucose uptake. In addition, four HOTAIR single-nucleotide polymorphisms (rs1899663 G/T, rs12826786 C/T, rs4759314 A/G, and rs920778 C/T) play a role in the development of diabetes mellitus. In the Republic of Iraq, there are no previous studies investigating the relationship between two noncoding polymorphisms (rs12826786 and rs1899663) and the risk of type 2 diabetes. Therefore, it is necessary to identify individuals at risk of developing type 2 diabetes by investigating the relationship between lncRNAs and glucose metabolism, in order to take the necessary measures to delay or prevent its occurrence. To determine if there is correlation between HOTAIR serum level and serum glucose level, and the possibility of using it as a diagnostic factor for Iraqi diabetic patients. Blood samples were randomly collected from 28 patients with diabetes mellitus type 2 and 20 healthy controls, along with measurement of physiological data (height, weight, blood pressure, fasting blood sugar level, HbA1C, HDL and LDL levels, cholesterol level, and the complications associated with diabetes mellitus). The expression level of the HOTAIR in the serum was determined via qRT-PCR. Then, the DNA was extracted and the type of HOTAIR single-nucleotide polymorphisms via was determined ARMS-PCR. Finally, statistical analysis was conducted to identify if there is a correlation between the different parameters. Based on the data analysis, there is a significant correlation between the dependent variable (level of expression of lncRNA HOTAIR gene polymorphism) and the independent variables (age, height, HbA1c, HDL and family history).Thus, it was concluded that HOTAIR polymorphisms or expression influences T2DM susceptibility by modulating different signaling pathways, and could be regarded as potential prognostic markers in T2DM patients.
