Mann-Whitney U test revealed that compared to controls, T2D patients expressed significantly higher levels of the genes CDK5 [p = 0.0056, RQ values (median; range) for T2D = 1.151 (0.600–8.103) and for CT = 0.945 (0.512–2.473), fold-change T2D vs. CT = 1.22], CDKN2A [p = 0.0411, RQ values (median; range) for T2D = 0.910 (0.320–4.030) and for CT = 0.655 (0.150–2.420), fold-change T2D vs. CT = 1.39] and TSPAN8 [p = 0.0055, RQ values (median; range) for T2D = 0.234 (0.0398–2.124) vs. CT = 0.159 (0.0247–1.132), fold-change T2D vs. CT = 1.47] (Table 3 and Fig. 1A; upper row). Here, TSPAN8 is linked to type 2 diabetes mellitus.