## 3 Results
### Relationship between Whole Blood miRNAs, eGFR, and Prevalent CKD  
In the robust linear regression models (Table 2), the increased expression of blood miRNAs (hsa-miR-novel-chr2_55842 and hsa-miR-novel-chr7_76196) were significantly associated with reduced eGFR, independent of age, gender, smoking status, drinking status, DM, and HTN status (Models 1-5, \(p<0.038\) for all). Blood miRNAs hsa-miR-novel-chr5_67265 and hsa-miR-novel-chr13_13519 showed significant association with lower eGFR levels, independent of age and gender (Models 1-2, all \(p\leq 0.05\)), but not after further adjustment for smoking status, alcohol consumption, DM, and HTN status (Models 3-4, \(p<0.062\)). The miRNAs hsa-miR-novel-chr1_36178 and hsa-miR-novel-chr15_18383 showed no association with eGFR (\(p\geq 0.311\) for all). Table 3 presents the odds ratios (ORs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) from logistic regression analysis of whole blood miRNAs for the prediction of CKD. All the whole blood miRNAs were positively associated with CKD in people with HTN and/or DM, even after adjustment for a range of confounders (\(p\leq 0.038\), for all). \begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{c c c c c} \hline \hline
**Variables** & **Total (n = 911)** & **Without CKD (n = 740)** & **CKD (n = 171)** & \(p\)**-Value** \\ \hline Age (years) & 56 (47–64) & 55 (47–62) & 63 (53–70) & \textless{}0.0001 \\ Gender (n, \% male) & 203 (22.3) & 168 (22.7) & 35 (20.5) & 0.517 \\ Weight (kg) & 74.5 (61.9–87.5) & 74.5(61.5–87.6) & 74.7 (63.9–85.3) & 0.859 \\ Waist circumference (cm) & 95.3 (84.3–106.7) & 94.4 (83.4–106.8) & 98.5 (88.3–106.4) & 0.023 \\ Hip circumference (cm) & 104.5 (94.5–115.9) & 104.5 (94.0–116.0) & 104.8 (96.7–115.0) & 0.313 \\ Body mass index (kg/m\({}^{2}\)) & 29.7 (24.5–35.2) & 29.5 (24.2–35.1) & 30.5 (25.7–35.6) & 0.175 \\ Serum cotinine (ng/mL) & 10.0 (10.0–257.0) & 10.0 (10.0–263.0) & 10.0 (10.0–208.00) & 0.250 \\ Fasting plasma glucose (mmol/l) & 5.2 (4.7–6.2) & 5.2 (4.7–6.0) & 5.3 (4.8–7.8) & 0.003 \\
2-h glucose (mmol/l) & 6.5 (5.3–8.3) & 6.4 (5.3–8.2) & 7.1 (5.8–8.8) & 0.005 \\ Fasting insulin (IU/l) & 7.4 (4.7–12.1) & 7.3 (4.6–11.9) & 7.5 (4.9–12.5) & 0.292 \\
2-h insulin (IU/l) & 43.5 (23.2–78.0) & 41.8 (22.6–76.5) & 51.5 (30.3–90.7) & 0.035 \\ Glycated haemoglobin (\%) & 5.9 (5.5–6.6) & 5.9 (5.5–6.4) & 6.2 (5.8–7.7) & \textless{}0.0001 \\ Systolic blood pressure (mmHg) & 147 (132–162) & 146 (132–161) & 149 (132–169) & 0.047 \\ Diastolic blood pressure (mmHg) & 91 (82–100) & 92 (82–99) & 90 (80–103) & 0.656 \\ Pulse pressure (mmHg) & 72 (64–81) & 72 (64–80) & 74 (64–84) & 0.079 \\ Body mass index categories (n, \%) & & & & 0.085 \\ Normal weight & 247 (27.4) & 212 (29.0) & 35 (20.6) & \\ Overweight & 216 (24.0) & 172 (23.5) & 44 (25.9) & \\ Obese & 438 (48.6) & 347 (47.5) & 91 (53.5) & \\ Diabetes mellitus (n, \%) & 277 (30.4) & 200 (27.0) & 77 (45.0) & \textless{}0.0001 \\ Hypertension (n, \%) & 878 (96.4) & 709 (95.8) & 169 (98.8) & 0.057 \\ Current smokers (n, \%) & 395 (44.5) & 342 (47.7) & 53 (31.2) & \textless{}0.0001 \\ Current drinkers (n, \%) & 222 (24.6) & 209 (28.5) & 13 (7.6) & \textless{}0.0001 \\ \hline \hline \end{tabular} Data is presented as median (25–75 th percentiles) and count and percentages. Abbreviations: CKD (chronic kidney disease); miR (micro-RNA).  
\end{table} 
Table 1: General characteristics of the study participants at risk of developing CKD, categorized by CKD status.