Association of MALAT1 and TUG1 transcript levels and cardiometabolic diseases according to cholesterol saturated fat index

Cardiometabolic diseases in obese people, are influenced by the interactions of environment and genetics. Irregular expression of ”Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs)” is linked to several metabolic diseases. Therefore, we aimed to investigate the interaction between lncRNAs Metastasis-Associated Lung Adenocarcinoma Transcript 1 ( MALAT1 ), Taurine Upregulated Gene 1 ( TUG1) gene expression with dietary fatty acid quality indices (DFQI) on cardiometabolic risk factors among overweight and obese women. A total of 346 overweight and obese women (18–50 years), were included. Anthropometric measurements and biochemical determination were assessed. A validated and reliable 147-item semi-quantitative food frequency questionnaire (FFQ) was used to evaluate food intake. The cholesterol-saturated fat index (CSI) was used as a measure of DFQI. A real-time polymerase chain reaction (real-time PCR) was performed to evaluate lnc-RNAs MALAT1 and TUG1 gene expression. The mean ± standard deviation (SD) of the age and body mass index (BMI ) of our participants were 36.568 ± 8.978 years and 31.215 ± 4.182 kg/m2 respectively. After controlling for confounding variables, significant positive interactions between lncRNAs MALAT1 and second tertile of CSI were observed on triglyceride (TG) (β = 6.268, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 0.760 to 11.776, p = 0.026), homeostasis model assessment insulin resistance (HOMA-IR) (β = 0.121, 95%CI = 0.013 to 0.230, p = 0.029). Similarly, a significant positive interaction between TUG1 expression and the second tertile of CSI was observed for HOMA-IR (β = 0.063, 95% CI: 0.017 to 0.108, p = 0.007). In addition, total cholesterol differed significantly across MALAT1 expression tertiles after adjustment (p = 0.046). No significant correlations were observed between MALAT1 or TUG1 expression and CSI. No adjustment for multiple testing was performed. In this exploratory, cross-sectional study, it appears that there might be a positive interaction between lncRNA MALAT 1 and CSI on cardiometabolic risk factors in overweight and obese women. However, due to methodological limitations, larger prospective studies are necessary to elucidate this concept.