Differential gene expression in nasal airway epithelium from overweight or obese youth with asthma

BACKGROUND: The mechanisms underlying the known link between overweight/obesity and childhood asthma are unclear. We aimed to identify differentially expressed genes and pathways associated with obesity-related asthma through a transcriptomic analysis of nasal airway epithelium. METHODS: We compared the whole transcriptome in nasal airway epithelium of youth with overweight or obesity and asthma with that of youth of normal weight and asthma, using RNA sequencing data from a cohort of 235 Puerto Ricans aged 9 to 20 years (EVA-PR) and an independent cohort of 66 children aged 6 to 16 years in Pittsburgh (VDKA). Differential expression analysis adjusting for age, sex, sequencing plate number, sample sorting protocol, and the first five principal components was performed independently in each cohort. Results from the two cohorts were combined in a transcriptome-wide meta-analysis. Gene enrichment and network analyses were performed on top genes. RESULTS: In the meta-analysis, 29 genes were associated with obesity-related asthma at an FDR-adjusted P