Abstract
sarcopenia has been defined as the aging-related disease with the declined mass, strength, and function of skeletal muscle, which is a major cause of morbidity and mortality in elders. Current diagnostic criteria of sarcopenia have not been agreed internationally, and the clinical diagnostic biomarkers for sarcopenia have not been identified. Circulating miRNAs (miRNAs, miRs) have recently been characterized as novel biomarkers for sarcopenia. However, the change of circulating miRNAs in response to sarcopenia are still not fully understood. Here, we enrolled a total of 93 elderly patients clinically diagnosed with sarcopenia and matching 93 non-sarcopenia elderly in this study. Specifically, levels of candidate circulating miRNAs which were involved in angiogenesis, inflammation and enriched in muscle and/or cardiac tissues were detected in these two groups. In small-sample screening experiments, plasma miR-155, miR-208b, miR-222, miR-210, miR-328, and miR-499 levels were significantly down-regulated in sarcopenia compared to those who non-sarcopenia. In contrast, miR-1, mir-133a, miR-133b, miR-21, miR-146a, miR-126, miR-221, and miR-20a were not changed significantly. Subsequently, we expanded the sample size to further detection and verification, and found that plasma miR-155, miR-208b, miR-222, miR-210, miR-328, and miR-499 levels in the sarcopenia group were significantly reduced compared to the non-sarcoma group, which is consistent with the results of the small-sample screening experiment. In addition, we showed that ASM/Height2, handgrip strength, knee extension and 4-meter velocity in sarcopenia group were significantly lower than those in non-sarcopenia group. Here we correlated the decrease of miR-208b, miR-499, miR-155, miR-222, miR-328, and miR-210 in sarcopenia group and non-sarcopenia group with diagnostic indexes of sarcopenia (ASM/Height2, Handgrip strength and 4-meter velocity) after adjusting sex. The results showed that miR-208b and miR-155 changes were significantly correlated with handgrip strength in woman, miR-208b, miR-499, and miR-222 changes were significantly correlated with ASM/Height2 in man, while other miRNAs changes did not show a strong correlation with these diagnostic indexes. In conclusion, plasma miR-208b, miR-499, miR-155, miR-222, miR-328, and miR-210 decrease in response to sarcopenia in the elderly. Although further studies are needed to clarify the potential use of circulating miRNAs as biomarkers of sarcopenia, present findings set the stage for defining circulating miRNAs as biomarkers and suggesting their physiological roles in elderly with sarcopenia.
Highlights
With the increasing pressure of global aging population, diseases related to the elderly are of great concern
Sarcopenia reduces the amount of metabolically active tissue; it increases the risk for metabolic diseases, including cardiovascular disease, diabetes, hypertension and hyperlipidemia and other elderly diseases (Biolo et al, 2014; Wang et al, 2018; Yilmaz and Bahat, 2019)
Body composition features were measured by a direct segmental multifrequency bioelectrical impedance analysis; Appendicular skeletal muscle mass (ASM) was calculated as the sum of skeletal muscle in the arms and legs; Relative skeletal muscle mass index (ASM/Ht2) was defined as ASM divided by body height in meters squared; We collected muscle strength to the nearest 0.1 kg with a accurate handgrip dynamometer; The 4-meter walking speed test was carried out on a straight corridor with a 6-meter mark on the ground
Summary
With the increasing pressure of global aging population, diseases related to the elderly are of great concern. Due to the increase of age, the body’s metabolic capacity is gradually decreasing, and the incidence of sarcopenia has increased (Cruz-Jentoft et al, 2014). Sarcopenia reduces the amount of metabolically active tissue; it increases the risk for metabolic diseases, including cardiovascular disease, diabetes, hypertension and hyperlipidemia and other elderly diseases (Biolo et al, 2014; Wang et al, 2018; Yilmaz and Bahat, 2019). This will bring heavy economic burden to the family of the elderly, society and medical service system. The harm caused by sarcopenia has not yet attracted enough attention from clinicians and society
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