An integrated multi-omic approach demonstrates distinct molecular signatures between human obesity with and without metabolic complications: a case–control study

OBJECTIVES: To examine the hypothesis that obesity complicated by the metabolic syndrome, compared to uncomplicated obesity, has distinct molecular signatures and metabolic pathways. METHODS: We analyzed a cohort of 39 participants with obesity that included 21 with metabolic syndrome, age-matched to 18 without metabolic complications. We measured in whole blood samples 754 human microRNAs (miRNAs), 704 metabolites using unbiased mass spectrometry metabolomics, and 25,682 transcripts, which include both protein coding genes (PCGs) as well as non-coding transcripts. We then identified differentially expressed miRNAs, PCGs, and metabolites and integrated them using databases such as mirDIP (mapping between miRNA-PCG network), Human Metabolome Database (mapping between metabolite-PCG network) and tools like MetaboAnalyst (mapping between metabolite-metabolic pathway network) to determine dysregulated metabolic pathways in obesity with metabolic complications. RESULTS: We identified 8 significantly enriched metabolic pathways comprising 8 metabolites, 25 protein coding genes and 9 microRNAs which are each differentially expressed between the subjects with obesity and those with obesity and metabolic syndrome. By performing unsupervised hierarchical clustering on the enrichment matrix of the 8 metabolic pathways, we could approximately segregate the uncomplicated obesity strata from that of obesity with metabolic syndrome. CONCLUSIONS: The data suggest that at least 8 metabolic pathways, along with their various dysregulated elements, identified via our integrative bioinformatics pipeline, can potentially differentiate those with obesity from those with obesity and metabolic complications. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12967-023-04074-x.