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Aim. There are increasing evidence demonstrating that neutrophil-mediated inflammation plays a role in the etiology of type 2 diabetes. However, the molecular mechanisms by which neutrophils contribute to type 2 diabetes remain largely unknown. The aim of the present work was to identify possible changes in circulating neutrophils to better elucidate neutrophil involvement in human type 2 diabetes. Methods. Patients newly diagnosed with type 2 diabetes (n = 5) and age- and sex-matched healthy controls (n = 5) were recruited. Neutrophils were purified from type 2 diabetes patients and controls, and RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) was used for comprehensive transcriptome analysis. Differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were screened, and Gene Ontology (GO) and KEGG pathway enrichment analyses were performed. Real-time polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) was used for validation in external samples of type 2 diabetes patients (n = 8) and healthy controls (n = 8). Results. Gene expression analysis showed that, compared with neutrophils from healthy controls, there were 1990 upregulated DEGs and 1314 downregulated DEGs in neutrophils from type 2 diabetes patients. GO analysis demonstrated that the DEGs were mainly involved in myeloid leukocyte activation, T cell activation, adaptive immunity, and cytokine production. The top 20 enriched KEGG pathways included the cytokine-cytokine receptor interaction pathway, NF-κB signaling pathway, cell adhesion molecules, and chemokine signaling pathway. Furthermore, qPCR of genes related to neutrophil activation revealed that the expression of SELL, SELP, CXCR1, and S100A8 was significantly increased in neutrophils from type 2 diabetes patients compared with that in neutrophils from controls. Conclusions. Our study reveals an abnormal activation of circulating neutrophils at the transcriptome level in type 2 diabetes patients. These findings suggest a potential involvement of neutrophil dysfunction in the pathologic process of type 2 diabetes and provide insight into potential therapeutic targets for type 2 diabetes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective. The aim of this study was to clarify the association of two single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) (rs11651270 and rs2670660) in the NLRP1 (NLR family pyrin domain containing 1) gene with type 1 diabetes (T1D) in the Chinese Han population. We hypothesize that mutations in the NLRP1 gene may affect the susceptibility to T1D. Materials and Methods. A case control study was designed, and participants fulfilling the diagnostic criteria of classical T1D as well as nondiabetic controls were enrolled in the study. The polymorphisms rs11651270 and rs2670660 were genotyped by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and Sanger sequencing. Chi-squared test and logistic regression analysis were performed to compare the distributions of the allele and genotype between cases and controls. Kruskal-Wallis one-way ANOVA was used to compare the characteristics of different genotypes in participants with T1D. Results. A total of 510 participants with classical T1D as well as 531 nondiabetic controls were enrolled in the study. The two groups were matched in sex (p=0.418). The age (p<0.001) and BMI (p<0.001) were significantly lower in cases compared to controls. Significantly higher values were observed for fasting plasma glucose (FPG) (p<0.001) and 2 h postprandial plasma glucose (PPG) (p<0.001) in individuals with T1D. Regarding the allelic model, the minor allele C of rs11651270 was significantly associated with lower risk of T1D compared with the T allele (OR=0.714, 95% CI=0.579-0.882). Both rs11651270 and rs2670660 polymorphisms were associated with T1D in the Chinese Han population under a dominant model (OR=0.648, 95% CI=0.503-0.834 and OR=0.716, 95% CI=0.549-0.934, respectively) and an overdominant model (OR=0.663, 95% CI=0.511-0.860 and OR=0.711, 95% CI=0.541-0.935, respectively). Additionally, the polymorphism rs11651270 was also related to T1D in an additive model (OR=0.719, 95% CI=0.583-0.887). Most importantly, when we analyzed the clinical characteristics of T1D individuals with different genotypes, we found that the age of onset with the TT genotype at rs11651270 was younger than those with the other two genotypes (p=0.001). Conclusions. SNPs in the NLRP1 gene were associated with T1D, as well as the age of onset in the Chinese Han T1D individuals. Our study indicated that the NLRP1 gene might play a pivotal role in the etiopathogenesis of T1D and could be applied to genetic screening of T1D in the Chinese Han population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]