Expression profile of circular RNAs in epicardial adipose tissue in heart failure

Background:Recent studies have reported circular RNA(circRNA)expression profiles in various tissue types;however,circRNA expression profile in human epicardial adipose tissue(EAT)remains undefined.This work aimed to compare circRNA expression patterns in EAT between the heart failure(HF)and non-HF groups.Methods:RNA-sequencing was carried out to compare circRNA expression patterns in EAT specimens from coronary artery disease cases between the HF and non-HF groups.Quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction was performed for validation.Comparisons of patient characteristics between the two groups were using t test,Mann-Whitney U test,and Chi-squared test.Results:A total of 141 circRNAs substantially different between the HF and non-HF groups(P<0.05;fold change>2)were detected,including 56 up-regulated and 85 down-regulated.Among them,hsa_circ_0005565 stood out,for it had the highest fold change and was significantly increased in HF patients in quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction validation.The top highly expressed EAT circRNAs corresponded to genes involved in cell proliferation and inflammatory response,including GSE1,RHOBTB3,HIPK3,UBXN7,PCMTD1,N4BP2L2,CFLAR,EPB41L2,FCHO2,FNDC3B,and SPECC1.The top enriched Gene Ontology term and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes pathway were positive regulation of metabolic processes and insulin resistance,respectively.Conclusion:These data indicate EAT circRNAs may contribute to the pathogenesis of metabolic disorders causing HF.