CNR ExploRA

Articolo in rivista, 2023, ENG, 10.1111/eci.14140

Effect of traditional or heat-not-burn cigarette smoking on circulating miRNAs in healthy subjects

Vittorio Picchio*1,PhD, Giulio Ferrero*2, PhD, Claudia Cozzolino1, MSc, Barbara Pardini3,4,PhD, Erica Floris1,MSc, Sonia Tarallo 3,4,PhD, Xhulio Dhori1,BSc, Cristina Nocella5,PhD, Lorenzo Loffredo5,MD, Giuseppe Biondi-Zoccai1,7, MD, Roberto Carnevale1,6,PhD, Giacomo Frati1,6, MD, Isotta Chimenti1,7§, PhD, Francesca Pagano8§, PhD.

1Department of Medical Surgical Sciences and Biotechnologies, Sapienza University of Rome - C.so della Repubblica 79, 04100 Latina, Italy 2Department of Clinical and Biological Sciences, University of Turin - Via Verdi 8, 10124, Turin, Italy 3Italian Institute for Genomic Medicine (IIGM), c/o IRCCS Candiolo - SP142, km 3,95, 10060, Candiolo, (TO), Italy 4 Candiolo Cancer Institute, FPO-IRCCS, SP142, Km 3,95, 10060 Candiolo (TO), Italy 5 Department of Clinical, Internal, Anaesthesiological and Cardiovascular Sciences, Sapienza University of Rome - Viale del Policlinico, 155, 00161 Rome Italy 6 Department of AngioCardioNeurology, Neuromed, Via Atinense, 18, 86077 Pozzilli (IS), Italy 7 Mediterranea Cardiocentro, Via Caracciolo, 15, 80122, Napoli, Italy 8 Institute of Biochemistry and Cell Biology, Italian National Council of Research - Via Ramarini 32, 00015 Monterotondo (Rome), Italy.

Background: Traditional combustion cigarette (TCC) smoking is an established risk factor for several types of cancer and cardiovascular diseases. Circulating microRNAs (miRNAs) represent key molecules mediating pathogenetic mechanisms, and potential biomarkers for personalized risk assessment. TCC smoking globally changes the profile of circulating miRNAs. The use of heat-not-burn cigarettes (HNBCs) as alternative smoking devices is rising exponentially worldwide, and the circulating miRNA profile of chronic HNBC smokers is unknown. We aimed at defining the circulating miRNA profile of chronic exclusive HNBC smokers, and identifying potentially pathogenetic signatures. Methods: Serum samples were obtained from 60 healthy young subjects, stratified in chronic HNBC smokers, TCC smokers and nonsmokers (20 subjects each). Three pooled samples per group were used for small RNA sequencing, and the fourth subgroup constituted the validation set. Results: Differential expression analysis revealed 108 differentially expressed miRNAs; 72 exclusively in TCC, 10 exclusively in HNBC and 26 in both smoker groups. KEGG pathway analysis on target genes of the commonly modulated miRNAs returned cancer and cardiovascular disease associated pathways. Stringent abundance and fold-change criteria nailed down our functional bioinformatic analyses to a network where miR-25-3p and miR-221-3p are main hubs. Conclusion: Our results define for the first time the miRNA profile in the serum of exclusive chronic HNBC smokers and suggest a significant impact of HNBCs on circulating miRNAs.

European journal of clinical investigation (Print) , pp. 1–13