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World J Diabetes. Mar 15, 2026; 17(3): 113947
Published online Mar 15, 2026. doi: 10.4239/wjd.v17.i3.113947
Published online Mar 15, 2026. doi: 10.4239/wjd.v17.i3.113947
SLC30A8 promoter hypermethylation is associated with type 2 diabetes and diabetic kidney disease in a Chinese population
Nan Li, Jiang-Yi Yu, Department of Endocrinology, Jiangsu Province Hospital of Chinese Medicine, The Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine, Nanjing 210029, Jiangsu Province, China
Yu-Peng Li, Qing Xu, Yi-Hong Yu, Harvest F Gu, Laboratory of Molecular Medicine, School of Basic Medicine and Clinical Pharmacy, China Pharmaceutical University, Nanjing 210009, Jiangsu Province, China
Qing Xu, Department of Medicine, Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong 200000, China
Jian Xu, Department of Laboratory Medicine, The First Affiliated Hospital with Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing 210029, Jiangsu Province, China
Juan Su, Department of Physical Education, Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Nanjing 210016, Jiangsu Province, China
Chong Shen, Department of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing 211166, Jiangsu Province, China
Harvest F Gu, College of Pharmacy, Qilu Medical University, Zibo 255314, Shandong Province, China
Co-corresponding authors: Jiang-Yi Yu and Harvest F Gu.
Author contributions: Li N contributed to writing-original draft; Li N and Gu HF contributed to formal analysis and funding acquisition; Li N, Li YP, Xu Q, Yu YH, Xu J, Su J, Shen C, and Gu HF contributed to data curation and investigation; Li N, Li YP, Xu Q, Yu YH, Xu J, Su J, and Shen C did visualization, and validation; Yu JY and Gu HF contributed to supervision and made equal contributions as co-corresponding authors; Gu HF did conceptualization, project administration, resources, and writing-review and editing. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.
Supported by Excellent Doctor Program of Jiangsu Province Hospital of Chinese Medicine, No. 20221202; the Launch Grant of China Pharmaceutical University, No. 20180815.
Institutional review board statement: This study was approved by the Research Ethics Committees of Jiangsu Province Hospital of Chinese Medicine, The Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine, No. 2025-083-01.
Institutional animal care and use committee statement: All procedures involving animals were reviewed and approved by the Animal Ethics Committee of China Pharmaceutical University, No. 2019-08-0003.
Conflict-of-interest statement: All the authors report no relevant conflicts of interest for this article.
ARRIVE guidelines statement: The authors have read the ARRIVE guidelines, and the manuscript was prepared and revised according to the ARRIVE guidelines.
Data sharing statement: The data of this study are presented in the main text and Supplementary material. The dataset of DNA methylation and RNA expression levels in kidneys of db/db mice with and without diabetic kidney disease can be found in online repositories. The repository name and accession number are National Center for Biotechnology Information and PRJNA945213.
Corresponding author: Harvest F Gu, PhD, Laboratory of Molecular Medicine, School of Basic Medicine and Clinical Pharmacy, China Pharmaceutical University, No. 24 Tongjia Alley, Gulou District, Nanjing 210009, Jiangsu Province, China. feng.gu@cpu.edu.cn
Received: September 8, 2025
Revised: October 25, 2025
Accepted: December 25, 2025
Published online: March 15, 2026
Processing time: 185 Days and 23.7 Hours
Revised: October 25, 2025
Accepted: December 25, 2025
Published online: March 15, 2026
Processing time: 185 Days and 23.7 Hours
Core Tip
Core Tip: Solute carrier family 30 member 8 (SLC30A8) is a β-cell specific Zn transporter in insulin secretory granules. DNA in the SLC30A8 gene promoter region is hypermethylated. SLC30A8 promoter hypermethylation is associated with both type 2 diabetes and diabetic kidney disease. This study aims to evaluate whether DNA methylation changes in SLC30A8 is associated with type 2 diabetes and diabetic kidney disease.