Abstract
BACKGROUND: Metabolically healthy obesity (MHO) is unstable, with up to 80% of individuals progressing to metabolically abnormal obesity (MAO), yet mechanisms underlying this transition remain unclear. African Americans bear a disproportionate burden of obesity-related cardiovascular disease. Circulating extracellular vesicles (EVs) mediate inter-organ communication and may drive MAO-related vascular dysfunction. METHODS: Adults of African ancestry were classified as metabolically healthy lean (MHL, n=14), MHO (n=9), or MAO (n=16). Plasma-derived EVs were characterized and their microRNA cargo profiled. Human coronary artery endothelial cells were treated with EVs from each group to assess nitric oxide signaling, oxidative stress, inflammatory activation, and mitochondrial dynamics. RESULTS: MHO participants exhibited preserved insulin sensitivity and lower inflammation compared with MAO despite comparable adiposity. EVs from MHO carried a distinct microRNA signature enriched in miR-148a-5p, miR-181c-5p, and miR-1255a, linked to antioxidant and matrix regulatory pathways. MAO EVs were enriched in miR-3613-3p, miR-6842-3p, and miR-326, targeting inflammation and insulin resistance pathways. Compared with both MHL and MHO EVs, MAO EVs suppressed endothelial nitric oxide synthase phosphorylation and reduced nitric oxide bioavailability, with increased reactive oxygen species and ICAM-1 expression. MHO EVs induced an intermediate phenotype with disrupted mitochondrial morphology, supporting a graded continuum of endothelial stress. CONCLUSIONS: MHO represents a biologically active intermediate state. Circulating EVs from MHO individuals convey molecular signals that impair endothelial and mitochondrial function, predisposing to vascular injury and progression toward MAO. EV-associated microRNAs are mechanistic mediators and candidate biomarkers of metabolic and vascular deterioration in obesity. CLINICAL PERSPECTIVE: What Is New?: This study systematically investigated extracellular vesicles derived from metabolically healthy obese individuals to define direct vesicle effects on endothelial function using integrated omics coupled to functional outputs.Extracellular vesicles from metabolically healthy obesity convey a distinct molecular and biological signature that distinguishes lean and metabolically abnormal obesity.Metabolic health status, rather than obesity alone, drives extracellular vesicle-mediated endothelial nitric oxide signaling, oxidative stress, inflammation, and mitochondrial dynamics.What Are the Clinical Implications?: These findings explain why some individuals with obesity exhibit preserved vascular function while others develop early endothelial dysfunction.Stratifying obesity by metabolic health status improves cardiovascular risk assessment beyond body mass index alone.Targeting extracellular vesicle signaling pathways represents a novel strategy to prevent metabolically healthy individuals from progressing to metabolically abnormal obesity.