Abstract
Background. Epicardial adipose tissue (EAT) is identified as an atypical fat depot surrounding the heart with a putative role in the involvement of metabolic disorders, including obesity, type-2 diabetes mellitus, and atherosclerosis. We profiled miRNAs in EAT of metabolic patients with coronary artery disease (CAD) and type-2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) versus metabolically healthy patients by microarray. Compared to metabolically healthy patients, we identified forty-two miRNAs that are differentially expressed in patients with CAD and T2DM from Xinjiang, China. Eleven miRNAs were selected as potential novel miRNAs according to P value and fold change. Then the potential novel miRNAs targeted genes were predicted via TargetScan, PicTar, and miRTarbase, and the function of the target genes was predicted via Gene Ontology (GO) analysis while the enriched KEGG pathway analyses of the miRNAs targeted genes were performed by bioinformatics software DAVID. Then protein-protein interaction networks of the targeted gene were conducted by online software STRING. Finally, using microarray, bioinformatics approaches revealed the possible molecular mechanisms pathogenesis of CAD and T2DM. A total of 11 differentially expressed miRNAs were identified and among them, hsa-miR-4687-3p drew specific attention. Bioinformatics analysis revealed that insulin signaling pathway is the central way involved in the progression of metabolic disorders. Conclusions. The current findings support the fact that miRNAs are involved in the pathogenesis of metabolic disorders in EAT of CAD patients with T2DM, and validation of the results of these miRNAs by independent and prospective study is certainly warranted.