Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2025 Apr 28:19:251-264.
doi: 10.2147/BTT.S521519. eCollection 2025.

Epigenetic Regulation of Sorbitol Dehydrogenase in Diabetic Retinopathy Patients: DNA Methylation, Histone Acetylation and microRNA-320

Ramzi Amin #  1 , Hikmat Permana #  2 , Arief Sjamsulaksan Kartasasmita #  3 , Dany Hilmanto #  4 , Rachmat Hidayat #  5
Affiliations

Epigenetic Regulation of Sorbitol Dehydrogenase in Diabetic Retinopathy Patients: DNA Methylation, Histone Acetylation and microRNA-320

Ramzi Amin et al. Biologics. .

Abstract

Purpose: This study aimed to investigate the correlation between epigenetic markers and sorbitol dehydrogenase (SDH) levels in patients with type 2 diabetes and diabetic retinopathy (DR).

Patients and methods: We conducted a case control study on 40 patients with type 2 diabetes and DR and 40 patients with type 2 diabetes without DR. Clinical data and ophthalmological examinations were performed to confirm the presence or absence of DR. Blood samples were collected for the analysis of DNA methylation, histone acetylation, microRNA-320 levels, and SDH enzyme activity. The epigenetic markers were evaluated using enzyme linked immunosorbent modified assay. The data were analyzed using statistical tests, including Spearman correlation and multiple linear regression.

Results: In patients with DR, there was a significant negative correlation between microRNA-320 levels and SDH enzyme activity (r=-0.968, p=0.000). No significant correlations were found between DNA methylation or histone acetylation and SDH activity. Multivariate analysis confirmed the strong negative correlation between microRNA-320 and SDH (r = -0.727, p=0.000), with microRNA-320 explaining 58.1% of the variance in SDH levels.

Conclusion: The findings suggest that microRNA-320 plays a crucial role in regulating SDH enzyme activity in patients with type 2 diabetes and DR. The development of microRNA-320-based therapies, such as miRNA mimics or antagomirs, may offer a novel approach to modulating SDH activity and mitigating the detrimental effects of the polyol pathway in DR. Further researches are needed to validate the results and mechanism underlying the correlation between epigenetic regulation SDH in DR.

Keywords: case control studies; genetic; linear models; microRNAs; type 2 diabetes mellitus.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors report no conflicts of interest in this work.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Scatter plot correlation DNA methylation, histone acetylation, MicroRNA-320 and sorbitol dehydrogenase (SDH) in diabetic retinopathy patients; (A) Correlation between DNA methylation and SDH activity in DR patients; (B) Correlation between histone acetylation and SDH activity in DR patients; (C) Correlation between microRNA-320 and SDH activity in DR patients.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Scatter plot correlation epigenetic markers and SDH activity in non-diabetic retinopathy (non-DR) patients; (A) Correlation between microRNA-320 and SDH activity in non-DR patients. (B) Correlation between DNA methylation and SDH activity in non-DR patients; (C) Correlation between histone acetylation and SDH activity in non-DR patients.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

References

    1. Sun L, Liu X, Zuo Z. Regulatory role of miRNA-23a in diabetic retinopathy. Exp Ther Med. 2021;22(6):1477. doi:10.3892/etm.2021.10912 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Teo ZL, Tham Y-C, Yu M, et al. Global prevalence of diabetic retinopathy and projection of burden through 2045: systematic review and meta-analysis. Ophthalmol. 2021;128(11):1580–1591. doi:10.1016/j.ophtha.2021.04.027 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Kropp M, Golubnitschaja O, Mazurakova A, et al. Diabetic retinopathy as the leading cause of blindness and early predictor of cascading complications-risk and mitigation. EPMA J. 2023;14(1):21–42. doi:10.1007/s13167-023-00314-8 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Sivaprasad S, Sahasranamam VI, George S, et al. Burden of diabetic retinopathy amongst people with diabetes attending primary care in Kerala: nayanamritham project. J Clin Med. 2021;10(24):5903. doi:10.3390/jcm10245903 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Li M, Tian M, Wang Y, et al. Updates on RPE cell damage in diabetic retinopathy (review). Mol Med Rep. 2023;28(4):185. doi:10.3892/mmr.2023.13072 - DOI - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources