AIM:To investigate the expression of Sirtuin type l(SIRT1)gene in lens epithelial cells(LECs)of diabetic cataract.

METHODS:Twenty diabetic cataract patients, 20 age-related cataract patients and 20 traumatic cataract patients diagnosed from January 2012 to October 2014 in our hospital were selected. RT-PCR method was used to detect the content of SIRT1 gene in LECs of each group patients. Western blot method was used for the detection of SIRT1 protein content in lens epithelial cells, apoptosis rate of LECs was detected by TUNEL.

RESULTS: RT-PCR reaults showed that the relative content of SIRT1 mRNA in patients of traumatic cataract group was highest for 1.000±0.078, followed by the age related cataract group was 0.427±0.067, then diabetic cataract group was 0.389±0.112, those two groups compared with the traumatic cataract group, the difference was statistically significant(P<0.05); Western blot showed that SIRT1 protein expression in LECs of traumatic cataract patients was the highest, followed by the age related cataract group, diabetic cataract group the expression of SIRT1 protein was the minimum. The results of TUNEL showed that apoptosis rate of traumatic cataract group and age group LECs rates were(4.5±2.3)% and(8.7±4.1)%, respectively, the difference was not statistically significant; while the diabetic cataract group of LEC apoptosis rate was(24.3±6.1)%, by comparing traumatic cataract group and age related cataract group, the difference was statistical significance(P<0.05).

CONCLUSION: Expression of SIRT1 gene and protein decreased in LECs of diabetic cataract patients, suggesting that this gene was involved in diabetic cataract, this provides reliable theoretical basis for our further research in the future. Regulation of SIRT1 gene expression in LECs will explore the effective ways and provide a new idea for the diabetic cataract intervention treatment.