{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,11]],"date-time":"2026-02-11T13:11:09Z","timestamp":1770815469232,"version":"3.50.1"},"reference-count":79,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"4","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,9]],"date-time":"2026-02-09T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1770595200000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/100000054","name":"National Cancer Institute of U. S. National Institute of Health","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["CA262617-01"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["CA262617-01"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/100000054","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/100000002","name":"U. S. National Institutes of Health","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","award":["MD007597-31-5959"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["MD007597-31-5959"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/100000002","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"crossref"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["IJMS"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD), formerly known as non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), is a growing health concern, yet the role of non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs), including microRNAs (miRNAs), in its pathogenesis remains poorly understood. In this pilot study, we aimed to identify significantly expressed miRNAs and ncRNAs and correlate transcriptomic patterns of the findings with previously identified coding gene expression profiles to explore potential regulatory mechanisms in MASLD. Participants were selected from an existing study population. We conducted transcriptomic profiling of miRNAs and other ncRNAs in whole-blood samples from African American (AA) individuals with MASLD and matched controls (n = 4 per group) as a discovery cohort. A subsequent qRT-PCR validation study was performed in 30 participants, including 14 individuals with MASLD and 16 controls. miRNA sequencing was performed by Zymo, USA, followed by miRNA extraction using the Zymo-Seq\u2122 miRNA Library Kit. Differentially expressed miRNAs and ncRNAs were analyzed using Ingenuity Pathway Analysis (IPA) to identify associated biological pathways. A total of 1412 miRNAs and 5423 other ncRNAs were identified in this study. Among them, 35 miRNAs and 28 other ncRNAs exhibited significant differential expressions (fold-change cutoff 1.5, p &lt; 0.05). miR-206 was consistently upregulated, whereas miR-1343-5p, miR-1299, miR-224-5p, and miR-193a-5p were downregulated across all samples. miR-206 upregulation and miR-185-3p\/miR-224-5p\/miR-218-5p downregulation were validated, associating with lipid metabolism impairment and hepatic fibrosis via the AMPK\/TGF-\u03b2 pathway, implicating ncRNA-mediated regulation. To our knowledge, this is the first whole-blood non-coding RNA transcriptomic study in AA MASLD, an under-represented population. This small-scale pilot study requires validation in large multi-ethnic cohorts to confirm generalizability.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/ijms27041666","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,9]],"date-time":"2026-02-09T09:41:02Z","timestamp":1770630062000},"page":"1666","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Transcriptomic Profiling of MicroRNA and Non-Coding RNA from Whole Blood of African Americans with MASLD"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"27","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-6542-5163","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Tanmoy","family":"Mondal","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Biology, Howard University, Washington, DC 20059, USA"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Brent E.","family":"Korba","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Biology, Howard University, Washington, DC 20059, USA"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Christopher A.","family":"Loffredo","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Oncology, Georgetown University, Washington, DC 20057, USA"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Coleman I.","family":"Smith","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"MedStar Georgetown Transplant Institute, Georgetown University School of Medicine, Washington, DC 20007, USA"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Ruth","family":"Quartey","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Internal Medicine, College of Medicine, Howard University, Washington, DC 20059, USA"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Jasneet","family":"Sahota","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Biology, Howard University, Washington, DC 20059, USA"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-4896-8147","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Gemeyel","family":"Moses","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Biology, Howard University, Washington, DC 20059, USA"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-1188-0130","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Charles D.","family":"Howell","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Internal Medicine, College of Medicine, Howard University, Washington, DC 20059, USA"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-6388-688X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Gail","family":"Nunlee-Bland","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Departments of Pediatrics and Child Health, College of Medicine, Howard University, Washington, DC 20059, USA"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Zaki A.","family":"Sherif","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Departments of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, College of Medicine, Howard University, Washington, DC 20059, USA"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-5280-7418","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Somiranjan","family":"Ghosh","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Biology, Howard University, Washington, DC 20059, USA"},{"name":"Departments of Pediatrics and Child Health, College of Medicine, Howard University, Washington, DC 20059, USA"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,9]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","first-page":"2239","article-title":"Changes in the prevalence of the most common causes of chronic liver diseases in the United States from 1988 to 2018","volume":"17","author":"Younossi","year":"2019","journal-title":"Clin. 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