Elevated microRNA-20b-3p and reduced thioredoxin-interacting protein ameliorate diabetic retinopathy progression by suppressing the NLRP3 inflammasomes

Abstract

Over the years, microRNA-20b-3p (miR-20b-3p) has been found to play an essential role in human diseases; we aimed to investigate the effect of miR-20b-3p on the progression of diabetic retinopathy (DR). The DR rat models were established by streptozotocin injection and treated with miR-20b-3p mimics, silenced, or overexpressed thioredoxin-interacting protein (TXNIP). Afterward, the expression of miR-20b-3p and TXNIP, visual function, inflammatory factors, microvascular injury, vascular permeability, cell apoptosis, and angiogenesis in rats' retinal tissues were assessed. The target relation between miR-20b-3p and TXNIP was confirmed by dual luciferase reporter gene assay. MiR-20b-3p was poorly expressed while TXNIP was highly expressed in DR rats' retinal tissues. Elevated miR-20b-3p and inhibited TXNIP promoted the visual function, and restricted the inflammatory reaction, microvascular injury, vascular permeability, cell apoptosis, and angiogenesis in DR rats, thereby decelerating the development of DR. Furthermore, TXNIP was targeted by miR-20b-3p. We have found in this study that elevated miR-20b-3p could repress the levels of inflammatory factors by inhibiting TXNIP, thus attenuating the pathology of retina in DR rats, which provided new candidates for DR treatment.