Peripheral blood transcriptomic clusters uncovered immune phenotypes of asthma

Area of Science:

• Immunology
• Genomics
• Respiratory Medicine

Background:

• Transcriptomic analysis aids in understanding complex diseases like asthma.
• Identifying hub genes through transcriptomics can reveal potential therapeutic targets.

Purpose of the Study:

• To determine if blood transcriptomic clustering can differentiate clinical and immune phenotypes in asthma patients.
• To investigate the relationship between transcriptomic clusters and the microbiome in asthmatics.

Main Methods:

• RNA sequencing of peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) from 47 asthmatics and 21 non-asthmatics.
• Hierarchical clustering to classify asthmatics into distinct transcriptomic groups.
• Assessment of differentially expressed genes, clinical/immune phenotypes, and microbiome composition within clusters.

Main Results:

• Three distinct transcriptomic clusters were identified in asthmatics with varying gene expression profiles.
• Cluster 3 showed the highest proportion of severe asthmatics (73.3%), while Cluster 1 represented non-severe T2 asthma, and Cluster 3 severe non-T2 asthma.
• Cluster 2 exhibited mixed T2 and non-T2 features with elevated IgE and neutrophils; microbiome diversity showed no significant differences across clusters.

Conclusions:

• Blood transcriptome-based genetic clustering offers new immunological insights.
• These clusters may serve as valuable biomarkers for identifying distinct asthma immune phenotypes.