CNR ExploRA

Articolo in rivista, 2022, ENG, 10.3390/genes13040632

Circulating miRNAs Are Associated with Inflammation Biomarkers in Children with Overweight and Obesity: Results of the I.Family Study

Fabio Lauria 1, Giuseppe Iacomino 1, Paola Russo 1 , Antonella Venezia 1, Pasquale Marena 1, Wolfgang Ahrens 2 , Stefaan De Henauw 3, Gabriele Eiben 4, Ronja Foraita 2, Antje Hebestreit 2 , Yiannis Kourides 5, Dénes Molnár 6 , Luis A. Moreno 7 , Toomas Veidebaum 8 and Alfonso Siani 1 on behalf of the I.Family Consortium

1 Institute of Food Sciences, National Research Council, 83100 Avellino, Italy; flauria@isa.cnr.it (F.L.); prusso@isa.cnr.it (P.R.); antovenezia@yahoo.it (A.V.); pask.mare@gmail.com (P.M.); asiani@isa.cnr.it (A.S.) 2 Leibniz Institute for Prevention Research and Epidemiology-BIPS, Achterstraße 30, 28359 Bremen, Germany; ahrens@leibniz-bips.de (W.A.); foraita@leibniz-bips.de (R.F.); hebestr@leibniz-bips.de (A.H.) 3 Department of Public Health and Primary Care, University Hospital 4K3 C. Heymanslaan, 10 9000 Ghent, Belgium; stefaan.dehenauw@ugent.be 4 Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, Medicinaregatan 3, 41390 Göteborg, Sweden; gabriele.eiben@medfak.gu.se 5 Research and Education Institute of Child Health, 138 Limassol Ave, #205, Strovolos 2015, Cyprus; kourides@cytanet.com.cy 6 Department of Pediatrics, Medical School, University of Pécs, H-7624 Pecs, Hungary; molnar.denes@pte.hu 7 University of Zaragoza, Domingo Miral s/n, 50009 Zaragoza, Spain; lmoreno@unizar.es 8 National Institute for Health Development, Hiiu 42, 11619 Tallinn, Estonia; toomas.veidebaum@tai.ee

Increasing data suggest that overnutrition-induced obesity may trigger an inflammatory process in adipose tissue and upturn in the innate immune system. Numerous players have been involved in governing the inflammatory response, including epigenetics. Among epigenetic players, miRNAs are emerging as crucial regulators of immune cell development, immune responses, autoimmunity, and inflammation. In this study, we aimed at identifying the involvement of candidate miRNAs in relation to inflammation-associated biomarkers in a subsample of European children with overweight and obesity participating in the I.Family study. The study sample included individuals with increased adiposity since this condition contributes to the early occurrence of chronic low-grade inflammation. We focused on the acute-phase reagent C-reactive protein (CRP) as the primary outcome and selected cytokines as plausible biomarkers of inflammation. We found that chronic low-grade CRP elevation shows a highly significant association with miR-26b-3p and hsa-miR-576-5p in boys. Furthermore, the association of CRP with hsa-miR-10b-5p and hsa-miR-31-5p is highly significant in girls. We also observed major sex-related associations of candidate miRNAs with selected cytokines. Except for IL-6, a significant association of hsa-miR-26b-3p and hsa-miR-576-5p with TNF-, IL1-Ra, IL-8, and IL-15 levels was found exclusively in boys. The findings of this exploratory study suggest sex differences in the association of circulating miRNAs with inflammatory response biomarkers, and indicate a possible role of miRNAs among the candidate epigenetic mechanisms related to the process of low-grade inflammation in childhood obesity.

Genes (Basel) 13