Expression levels of circulating microRNAs‐126, ‐155, and ‐145 in Mexican women exposed to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons through biomass fuel use

Abstract

Human exposure to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) has been considered a risk determinant for the development of cardiovascular diseases (CVD). Therefore, the aim of this study was to assess expression levels of vascular‐related miRNAs, miR‐126, miR‐155, and miR‐145, in plasma from women (aged 19–81 years) exposed (n = 100) and non‐exposed (n = 20) to PAHs via biomass combustion smoke.1‐hydroxypyrene (1‐OHP) was determined in urine as a biomarker of exposure to PAHs using high‐resolution liquid chromatography. Plasma expression levels of proposed miRNAs were determined by quantitative real‐time PCR. Additionally, traditional risk factors (age, blood pressure, serum lipid profile, blood glucose, and among others) associated with CVD were evaluated. Urinary 1‐OHP concentrations and plasma expression levels of miR‐126 and miR‐155 were significantly higher (P < 0.05) in women using wood as a fuel source in their homes (indoor) compared to women from the reference group (non‐exposed to biomass smoke). Besides, multivariate linear regression analyses revealed that miR‐126[β = 0.61; 95% confidence interval (0.32–0.90)] and miR‐155 [β = 0.45; 95% confidence interval (0.13–0.84)] expression levels were significantly associated with urinary 1‐OHP concentrations after being adjusted by traditional risk factors (P < 0.05). In contrast, no significant relationship was found between miR‐145 and urinary 1‐OHP levels. Furthermore, miRNAs assessed in this investigation are associated with CVD events. Consequently, actions to reduce exposure to PAHs in the evaluated population are warranted. Environ. Mol. Mutagen. 60:546–558, 2019. © 2019 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons induce endothelial injury through miR‐155 to promote atherosclerosis

“…This study found that PAHs treatment increased arteriosclerosis characteristics and also significantly increased the expression of miR‐155, while transfection of miR‐155 inhibitors partially suppressed the arteriosclerosis characteristics. Similar results have been reported, such as exposure to PAHs through biomass fuel use significantly increased the plasma expression level of miR‐155 and miR‐126 (Ruiz‐Vera et al 2019). PAHs taken may suppress vasculature‐related gene expression by upregulating miRNAs, including miR‐155 (He et al 2018).…”

Methodological considerations for measuring biofluid-based microRNA biomarkers

“…The added value of miRNAs as biomarkers is that some display tissue specificity or enrichment, which has been demonstrated in mouse, rat, dog, and human (Lagos-Quintana et al 2002;Babak et al 2004;Liang et al 2007;Mestdagh et al 2011;Minami et al 2014;Yu et al 2014;Koenig et al 2016;Smith et al 2016), as well as high conservation across other model species (Landgraf et al 2007;Koenig et al 2016), allowing for human translation of findings in animal and alternative model experimentation (Wang et al 2009Kong et al 2010;Starkey Lewis et al 2011;Antoine et al 2013;Usborne et al 2014;Liu et al 2015;Nishimura et al 2015). Recent studies have indicated strong correlations between environmental pollutants and radiation, thereby altering levels of miRNAs linked to metabolic and vascular disorder in exposed human populations (Martinez-Ibarra et al 2019;Ruiz-Vera et al 2019), further indicating direct utility of these biomarkers in environmental hazard evaluations. Not coincidentally, the recent development of methodologies to reproducibly measure miRNAs in small volumes of bodily fluids has also increased the feasibility of further developing biofluid-based miRNA biomarkers (Thompson et al 2016;Lee et al 2017;Thorsen et al 2017;Detassis et al 2019).…”

Cooking fuels use and carotid intima-media thickness during early pregnancy of women in Myanmar

“…Another CVD risk marker, asymmetric dimethylarginine (ADMA), was also found to have significant associations with urinary 1-OHP level [ 39 , 40 ] and paraoxonase 1 polymorphism (PON1 Q192R), a marker for genetic susceptibility [ 40 ]. Regarding further exploration on PAHs in women using different fuels, its metabolite 1-OHP in urine and plasma expression level of miR-126 and miR-155 were higher in wood users than LPG users, and it has also been indicated that plasma expression levels of miR-126 and miR-155 were significantly associated with urinary 1-OHP level [ 41 ]; these MicroRNAs play an important role in the process of modulating vascular malfunctions and arthrosclerosis [ 42 ].…”