Evidence map›Paper›PMID 28062594›Full record

ArticleRNA (New York, N.Y.)2017

Survey of 800+ data sets from human tissue and body fluid reveals xenomiRs are likely artifacts.

Wenjing Kang, Claus Heiner Bang-Berthelsen, Anja Holm, Anna J S Houben, Anne Holt Müller, Thomas Thymann, Flemming Pociot, Xavier Estivill, Marc R Friedländer

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in RNA (New York, N.Y.), 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 42 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
42citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

42 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Article
  2. Review
  3. The Conundrum of XenomiRs and Human Health.Advances in nutrition (Bethesda, Md.) · 2025
    Review
  4. Article
  5. Review
  6. Article
  7. Article
  8. Article
  9. Identifying the Potential of miRNAs inInternational journal of nanomedicine · 2023
    Article
  10. Review
  11. Milk exosomes in nutrition and drug delivery.American journal of physiology. Cell physiology · 2022
    Review
  12. Article
  13. Review
  14. Article
  15. Review
  16. Review
  17. Article
  18. Review
  19. Review
  20. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

9 authors.

Wenjing KangScience for Life Laboratory, Department of Molecular Biosciences, The Wenner-Gren Institute, Stockholm University, S-10691 Stockholm, Sweden.
Claus Heiner Bang-BerthelsenCenter for Non-Coding RNA in Technology and Health, University of Copenhagen, 1870 Copenhagen, Denmark.
Anja HolmMolecular Sleep Laboratory, Department of Clinical Biochemistry, Rigshospitalet, 2600 Glostrup, Denmark.
Anna J S HoubenBioinformatics and Genomics Program, Centre for Genomic Regulation (CRG), The Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology, 08003 Barcelona, Spain.
Anne Holt MüllerDepartment of Clinical Experimental Research, Glostrup Research Institute, Rigshospitalet, 2600 Glostrup, Denmark.
Thomas ThymannComparative Pediatrics and Nutrition, Department of Veterinary and Animal Science, University of Copenhagen, 1870 Frederiksberg C, Denmark.
Flemming PociotCenter for Non-Coding RNA in Technology and Health, University of Copenhagen, 1870 Copenhagen, Denmark.
Xavier EstivillBioinformatics and Genomics Program, Centre for Genomic Regulation (CRG), The Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology, 08003 Barcelona, Spain.
Marc R FriedländerScience for Life Laboratory, Department of Molecular Biosciences, The Wenner-Gren Institute, Stockholm University, S-10691 Stockholm, Sweden.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

miRNAs are small 22-nucleotide RNAs that can post-transcriptionally regulate gene expression. It has been proposed that dietary plant miRNAs can enter the human bloodstream and regulate host transcripts; however, these findings have been widely disputed. We here conduct the first comprehensive meta-study in the field, surveying the presence and abundances of cross-species miRNAs (xenomiRs) in 824 sequencing data sets from various human tissues and body fluids. We find that xenomiRs are commonly present in tissues (17%) and body fluids (69%); however, the abundances are low, comprising 0.001% of host human miRNA counts. Further, we do not detect a significant enrichment of xenomiRs in sequencing data originating from tissues and body fluids that are exposed to dietary intake (such as liver). Likewise, there is no significant depletion of xenomiRs in tissues and body fluids that are relatively separated from the main bloodstream (such as brain and cerebro-spinal fluids). Interestingly, the majority (81%) of body fluid xenomiRs stem from rodents, which are a rare human dietary contribution but common laboratory animals. Body fluid samples from the same studies tend to group together when clustered by xenomiR compositions, suggesting technical batch effects. Last, we performed carefully designed and controlled animal feeding studies, in which we detected no transfer of plant miRNAs into rat blood, or bovine milk sequences into piglet blood. In summary, our comprehensive computational and experimental results indicate that xenomiRs originate from technical artifacts rather than dietary intake.

Indexed as

Brain ChemistryDietAnimalsArtifactsBody FluidsCattleHigh-Throughput Nucleotide SequencingHumansLiverMicroRNAsPlantsRatsRNA, PlantMicroRNAsRNA, Plantartifactscontaminationexogenous miRNAsmeta-studymicroRNAmiRNAnext-generation sequencing

Identifiers

PMID28062594
PMCPMC5340907

What OpenQuestion holds

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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.