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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Endocrinol.
Sec. Diabetes: Molecular Mechanisms
Volume 15 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fendo.2024.1419812

Longitudinal Associations Between MicroRNAs and Weight in the Diabetes Prevention Program

Provisionally accepted
Elena Flowers Elena Flowers 1*Benjamin Stroebel Benjamin Stroebel 1Xingyue Gong Xingyue Gong 1Kimberly A. Lewis Kimberly A. Lewis 1Bradley E. Aouizerat Bradley E. Aouizerat 2Meghana Gadgil Meghana Gadgil 3Alka Kanaya Alka Kanaya 3Li Zhang Li Zhang 4Presley Dalman Presley Dalman 5
  • 1 Department of Physiological Nursing, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, United States
  • 2 Bluestone Center for Clinical Research, New York University, New York City, New York, United States
  • 3 Department of Medicine, Division of General Internal Medicine, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, United States
  • 4 Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, United States
  • 5 University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, United States

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Circulating microRNAs show cross-sectional associations with overweight and obesity.Few studies provided data to differentiate between a snapshot perspective on these associations versus how microRNAs characterize prodromal risk from disease pathology and complications. This study assessed longitudinal relationships between circulating microRNAs and weight at multiple time-points in the Diabetes Prevention Program trial.A subset of participants (n=150) from the Diabetes Prevention Program were included.MicroRNAs were measured from banked plasma using a Fireplex Assay. We used generalized linear mixed models to evaluate relationships between microRNAs and changes in weight at baseline, year-1, and year-2. Logistic regression was used to evaluate whether microRNAs at baseline were associated with weight change after 2 years.In fully adjusted models that included relevant covariates, seven miRs (i.e., miR-126, miR-15a, miR-192, miR-23a, and miR-27a) were statistically associated with weight over 2 years. MiR-197 and miR-320a remained significant after adjustment for multiple comparisons. Baseline levels of let-7f, miR-17, and miR-320c were significantly associated with 3% weight loss after 2 years in fully adjusted models.This study provided evidence for longitudinal relationships between circulating microRNAs and weight. Because microRNAs characterize the combined effects of genetic determinants and responses to behavioral determinants, they may provide insights about the etiology of overweight and obesity in the context or risk for common, complex diseases. Additional studies are needed to validate the potential genes and

    Keywords: microRNA, diabetes, Weight Loss, biomarker, prediabetes

    Received: 18 Apr 2024; Accepted: 26 Aug 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Flowers, Stroebel, Gong, Lewis, Aouizerat, Gadgil, Kanaya, Zhang and Dalman. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Elena Flowers, Department of Physiological Nursing, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, United States

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.