Table 5.

Associations between miRNAs and cytokines in relation to cardiovascular diseases and insulin resistance.

miRNA	Related cytokines	Effect	Description
miR-34a miR-21 miR-146	Proinflammatory cytokines (Interleukin, IL, and Tumor Necrosis Factor, TNF)	Upregulated miRNA levels with the increase in cytokine levels	MIN6 cells induced with proinflammatory cytokines show a significant induction of miR-34a, miR-21, and miR-146 miRNAs and subsequent blockade of these miRNAs prevented cytokine induced reduction in GSIS and protected β-cells from cytokine induced cell death [25].
miR-103 miR-143 miR-107	TNF-α (affects insulin and glucose metabolism, provokes insulin resistance, and stimulates lipolysis [26])	Downregulated miRNA levels with the increase in cytokine levels	miR-103, miR-143, and miR-107 are induced in the process of adipogenesis, but after treatment of TNF-α their levels have shown to be reduced [25, 27].
miR-99a miR-325	IL-6 (plays a controversial role in the development of insulin resistance and affects glucose metabolism [26])	Downregulated miRNA levels with the increase in cytokine levels	miR-99a and miR-325 show a negative correlation with IL-6 concentration in human subcutaneous and omental adipose tissue [27].
miRNA-125a-5p	IL-6 TNF-α IL-2	Downregulated cytokine levels with the increase in miRNA-125a-5p	miRNA-125a-5p mediates lipid uptake and decreases the secretion of inflammatory cytokines such as IL-6, TNF-α, and IL-2 [28].
miR-221 miR-222	TNF-α	Upregulated miRNA levels with the increase in cytokine levels	miR-221 and miR-222 correlate positively with TNF and negatively with adiponectin [29].