title: Circulating microRNA-223 as a potential biomarker for obesity.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Obesity is a serious health problem that is implicated in many metabolic disorders. Recent studies have proposed that microRNA-223 (miR-223) is a potent regulator of many diseases related to obesity. However, the association of miR-223 with obesity remains unclear. In this study, we examined the relationship between serum miR-223 and obesity.
  
  
  METHODS
  A total of 121 subjects were selected, including 41 normal-weight, 40 overweight and 40 obesity subjects. The overweight and obesity subjects received lifestyle intervention for 3 months after baseline examination. Quantitative real-time PCR was used to measure the expression of circulating miR-223 in the serum.
  
  
  RESULTS
  MiR-223 was lower in both overweight and obesity subjects compared with normal-weight control (1.06 vs. 7.54, p<0.001; 4.56 vs. 7.54, p<0.001, respectively). Circulating miR-223 increased significantly in both overweight and obesity groups after lifestyle intervention. Furthermore, subjects with the lowest tertile of miR-223 expression had the highest obesity prevalence. The odds ratio was 2.77 (95% confidence interval: 1.59-6.54, p<0.05) compared with the highest tertile of miR-223 expression. Such association was still apparent after adjusting for other major risk factors.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The findings in this study suggest that miR-223 is a factor of obesity. The level of miR-223 in the serum can be used as a biomarker of obesity and therapeutic response.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Genetics and Cytology, Northeast Normal University; School of Life Science, Northeast Normal University, Changchun 130024, China; Department of Genetics, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Jilin University, Changchun 130021, China.
authors.forename: Dezhong
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Wen
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacology, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Jilin University, Changchun 130021, China.
authors.forename: Ping
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Qiao
authors.affiliation: Institute of Genetics and Cytology, Northeast Normal University; School of Life Science, Northeast Normal University, Changchun 130024, China. Electronic address: wangli@nenu.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Li
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Wang
mesh_terms: D015415:Biomarkers / Q000097:blood; D002318:Cardiovascular Diseases / Q000097:blood* / Q000209:etiology / Q000517:prevention & control; D003924:Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 / Q000097:blood* / Q000209:etiology / Q000517:prevention & control; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D035683:MicroRNAs / Q000097:blood*; D008875:Middle Aged; D009765:Obesity / Q000097:blood* / Q000150:complications / Q000235:genetics; D016017:Odds Ratio; D015995:Prevalence; D012307:Risk Factors; D040242:Risk Reduction Behavior
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers; D035683:MicroRNAs; C525067:MIR223, human
keywords: Marker; Obesity; Overweight; miR-223