Association between MIC-1 and Type 2 Diabetes: A Combined Analysis

Abstract

Background and Objectives. Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is an epidemic disease that endangers human health seriously. Recently, a large number of reports have revealed that macrophage-inhibiting cytokine-1 (MIC-1) is linked with T2DM, but the results were inconclusive. The aim of this study was to perform bioinformatics analysis of the association between MIC-1 and T2DM. Material and Methods. Datasets and relevant literatures were searched in Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO), PubMed, Google Scholar, and Web of Science till September 20, 2019. Expression levels of MIC-1 were extracted, pooled, and compared between T2DM cases and controls. Results. In summary, 11 GEO datasets and 3 articles with 421 T2DM cases and 711 controls were finally included. The expression level of MIC-1 was significantly higher in T2DM patients compared with controls, with a standard mean difference (SMD) of 0.54 and a 95% confidence interval (95% CI) of 0.24-0.83; in blood samples, the difference was still significant (SMD=0.65; 95%CI=0.24-1.06). Meanwhile, the expression level of MIC-1 plays a significant role in differentiating T2DM cases from controls; the combined sensitivity, specificity, and odds ratio were 0.83 (95%CI=0.72-0.90), 0.59 (95%CI=0.45-0.72), and 1.64 (95%CI=1.35-1.99), respectively. The summary receiver operating characteristic (SROC) curve demonstrated that the area under the curve (AUC) was 0.81 (95%CI=0.77-0.84). Conclusion. Our results suggested that the expression levels of MIC-1 were significantly higher in T2DM patients in multiple tissues including blood samples.