Background

Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is a chronic disease caused by excessive fat accumulation in the liver in addition to alcohol consumption and other pathological factors. The incidence of NAFLD is rapidly growing, currently affecting 25% of the world population. Exosomes are extracellular vesicles containing a variety of biological molecules, including microRNAs (miRNAs).

Objective

To monitor the expression of exosomal microRNAs in the NAFLD.

Methods

In this study, five nonalcoholic fatty liver patients were included in the disease group, and five simple obesity patients were included in the control group. Exosomes from NAFLD patient serum were collected, and exosomal miRNAs were extracted. Exosomes were isolated and then confirmed by electron microscopy, nanoparticle tracking analysis (NTA) and western blotting. High-throughput sequencing methods were used to determine the expression profile of exosome-derived miRNAs.

Results

The sequencing results revealed that a total of 2588 miRNAs were identified. The expression of 80 miRNAs significantly differed between the NAFLD and control groups, including 30 upregulated and 50 downregulated miRNAs. miR-122-5p, miR‐27a, and miR‐335-5p may play an important role in NAFLD. Finally, GO and KEGG analyses were applied to explore the function of miRNA targets.

Conclusions

Collectively, this study identified some key exosomal miRNAs and pathways in NAFLD that might be used as molecular targets or diagnostic biomarkers for NAFLD.

中文翻译：

---

来自非酒精性脂肪肝儿童的血清外泌体的 microRNA 谱

背景

非酒精性脂肪性肝病（NAFLD）是一种慢性疾病，除了饮酒等病理因素外，肝脏中脂肪堆积过多引起。NAFLD 的发病率正在迅速增长，目前影响着世界 25% 的人口。外泌体是细胞外囊泡，含有多种生物分子，包括 microRNA (miRNA)。

客观的

监测 NAFLD 中外泌体 microRNA 的表达。

方法

本研究将5例非酒精性脂肪肝患者纳入疾病组，5例单纯性肥胖患者纳入对照组。收集来自 NAFLD 患者血清的外泌体，并提取外泌体 miRNA。分离外泌体，然后通过电子显微镜、纳米粒子追踪分析 (NTA) 和蛋白质印迹确认。高通量测序方法用于确定外泌体衍生的 miRNA 的表达谱。

结果

测序结果显示，共鉴定出 2588 个 miRNA。NAFLD 组和对照组之间 80 种 miRNA 的表达存在显着差异，包括 30 种上调和 50 种下调 miRNA。miR-122-5p、miR-27a 和 miR-335-5p 可能在 NAFLD 中起重要作用。最后，应用 GO 和 KEGG 分析来探索 miRNA 靶标的功能。

结论

总的来说，本研究确定了 NAFLD 中的一些关键外泌体 miRNA 和通路，可用作 NAFLD 的分子靶标或诊断生物标志物。