Plasma MicroRNA and Protein Signature Associated with Obesity in the Chinese Han Population Using MicroRNA Omics and Proteomics Analysis of 1026 Subjects.

Abstract

Overweight and obesity have become major health risks around the world. The risk factors and mechanisms for overweight and obesity are not fullyunderstood. It is critical to establish reliable factors associated with overweight and obesity. For future predictions, we examined the microRNA (miRNA) and protein expression levels of the Chinese population. Between 2017 and 2021, we conducted a community-based prospective cohort study of 1026 Chinese Han healthy adults in Zhengzhou, China. In this study, we analyzed the differentially expressed miRNA and protein profiles generated from 1026 subjects using RNA sequencing and proteomic analysis to investigate the potential association of levels of differential miRNAs and proteins with overweight and/or obesity in the Chinese Han adults. In our study, we identified 21 differential expression levels as a miRNA signature (10 up-regulated: hsa-miR-199b-5p, hsa-miR-548av-5p|hsa-miR-548 k, hsa-miR-362-5p, hsa-miR-181c-3p, hsa-miR-664b-5p, hsa-miR-148a-5p, hsa-miR-885-5p, hsa-miR-18a-3p, hsa-miR-590-3p and hsa-miR-450b-5p; 11 down-regulated: hsa-miR-26b-3p, hsa-miR-143-3p, hsa-miR-145-5p, hsa-miR-760, hsa-miR-205-5p, hsa-miR-654-5p, hsa-miR-1306-3p, hsa-miR-5010-5p, hsa-miR-655-3p, hsa-miR-196b-5p and hsa-miR-141-3p) associated with overweight or obese subjects. We then identified these potential miRNA direct target proteins and the associated miRNA-protein regulatory network with the Chinese obese phenotype. Furthermore, we found that these miRNA signatures and protein panels are associated with the onset and progression of obesity-related illnesses. These miRNA signatures and target protein panels may be used to predict obesity, identify potential new pathways, and serve as new biomarkers to predict overweight- and obesity-related diseases in the future.

Supplementary information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s43657-025-00259-0.