A total of 2 µg of RNA sample from each subject was prepared as the input for RNA-seq. In the first step, ribosomal RNA (rRNA) was removed using Epicenter Ribozero™ rRNA Removal kit (Epicenter; Illumina, Inc.) and rRNA-free components were cleaned by ethanol precipitation. Next, the RNAs were submitted for library preparation according to the method described in a previous study (29 (link)). It was prepared using the VAHTS Total RNA-seq (H/M/R) Library Prep kit for Illumina (cat. no. NR603-01; Vazyme Biotech Co., Ltd.) according to the manufacturer's protocols. In brief, the following steps, including fragmentation, reverse transcription, adaptor ligation and preamplification, were performed sequentially. Finally, the libraries were purified, quality-tested and quantified using the Agilent Bioanalyzer 2100 system (Agilent Technologies, Inc.). The libraries were sequenced on Illumina HiSeq X Ten System by using HiSeq X Ten Reagent Kit (cat. no. FC-501-2501) with 2x150 bp paired-end technology.