LAUSR

Long noncoding RNAs (LncRNAs) are widely investigated in various diseases as a novel type of biomarkers. We aimed to elucidate the diagnostic values of lncRNAs in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). We comprehensively searched PubMed, Web of Science, EMBASE, CBM, Scopus, and the Cochrane Library databases from the inception to 3 January 2019. Studies concerning the association between lncRNAs expression and diagnostic outcomes in type 2 diabetes mellitus patients were included. We employed pooled odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) to evaluate diagnostic parameters. Seven relevant studies were eligible in our study. The pooled results showed that lncRNAs performed the area under the curve (AUC) of 0.73 (95%Cl: 0.69–0.77), with sensitivity of 0.71 (95%Cl: 0.64–0.77) and specificity of 0.66 (95%Cl: 0.60–0.71) in discriminating type 2 diabetes from healthy controls. As for prediabetes, lncRNAs conducted AUC of 0.75 with 76% sensitivity and 64% specificity. Moreover, subgroup analysis based on expression levels of lncRNAs, sample sizes, and specimen of eligible studies were further performed. This study indicates that lncRNAs may serve as promising indicators for diagnostic evaluation of T2DM patients.