miRNA profiling shows shared signatures in pediatric asthma, obesity and their comorbidity

RationaleChildhood obesity is a known risk factor for asthma and contributes to increased disease severity and reduced corticosteroid responsiveness. However, the molecular mechanisms underlying this comorbidity remain unclear.

Using a cross-sectional design, we aimed to identify microRNA (miRNA) signatures associated with asthma–obesity comorbidity in children to shed light on potential shared molecular drivers.MethodsWhole blood samples were collected from four pediatric groups: normal weight with asthma (NW-A, n = 11), overweight/obesity with asthma (OO-A, n = 10), overweight/obesity without asthma (OO, n = 10), and normal weight without asthma (NW, n = 12). Circulating miRNA profiles were assessed using the NanoString nCounter platform.

Differential expression and pathway enrichment analyses were performed using Enrichr and other bioinformatic tools. Correlation with clinical and cytokine data was assessed by Pearson’s correlation and multiple regression analyses.ResultsmiRNA expression profiles differed markedly across the four groups.

Five miRNAs (miR- 423-3p, -92a-3p, -4536-5p, -197-3p, -891a-5p) were consistently upregulated, and two (miR-144-3p, -641) were downregulated across asthma alone, obesity alone, and asthma-obesity comorbidity.