An Apple a Day? The Hypothesis of Cross-Kingdom Gene Regulation by Plant miRNAs in Mammals and Its Controversies.
Level 5 - mechanism / opinion, no new human data
Narrative review synthesizing existing mechanistic and observational literature without new human data or systematic review methodology.
PubMed 42196200 · doi:10.3390/ijms27104220
What was done
This narrative review synthesized the published literature regarding the hypothesis of cross-kingdom gene regulation by dietary plant-derived microRNAs (pmiRNAs) in mammals. The authors reviewed evidence evaluating whether pmiRNAs survive cooking and digestion, enter systemic circulation via extracellular vesicles, and reach tissues to exert gene-regulatory effects, while addressing methodological challenges and contrasting positive reports with non-replication studies.
What was found
The abstract reports no numerical findings. It states that while several studies suggest plant miRNAs survive processing and digestion to enter circulation and mediate cross-kingdom gene expression, multiple subsequent studies have failed to reproduce or confirm these results, leaving the biological reality of the mechanism in question.
Why it matters
Understanding whether dietary plant miRNAs can functionally alter mammalian gene expression is foundational for nutritional genomics and therapeutic RNA delivery. The review highlights analytical pitfalls and aims to establish best practices for future investigations.
Limits
As a narrative review, it presents no original experimental data, quantitative synthesis, or systematic search protocol. The broader field is limited by substantial reproducibility issues, low physiological concentrations, and analytical artifacts in sequencing and detection assays.
Cited by
- context Plant-derived exosomes can modify human gene expression.