Cross‐sectional relations of whole‐blood miRNA expression levels and hand grip strength in a community sample |
| |
Authors: | Joanne M Murabito Jian Rong Kathryn L Lunetta Tianxiao Huan Honghuang Lin Qiang Zhao Jane E Freedman Kahraman Tanriverdi Daniel Levy Martin G Larson |
| |
Institution: | 1. The Framingham Heart Study, Framingham, MA, USA;2. Department of Medicine, Section 3. of General Internal Medicine, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, MA, USA;4. Department of Biostatistics, Boston University School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA;5. The Population Sciences Branch, Division of Intramural Research, National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA;6. Section 7. of Computational Biomedicine, Department of Medicine, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, MA, USA;8. Cardiology Division, Department of Medicine, University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester, MA, USA |
| |
Abstract: | MicroRNAs (miRNAs) regulate gene expression with emerging data suggesting miRNAs play a role in skeletal muscle biology. We sought to examine the association of miRNAs with grip strength in a community‐based sample. Framingham Heart Study Offspring and Generation 3 participants (n = 5668 54% women, mean age 55 years, range 24, 90 years) underwent grip strength measurement and miRNA profiling using whole blood from fasting morning samples. Linear mixed‐effects regression modeling of grip strength (kg) versus continuous miRNA ‘Cq’ values and versus binary miRNA expression was performed. We conducted an integrative miRNA–mRNA coexpression analysis and examined the enrichment of biologic pathways for the top miRNAs associated with grip strength. Grip strength was lower in women than in men and declined with age with a mean 44.7 (10.0) kg in men and 26.5 (6.3) kg in women. Among 299 miRNAs interrogated for association with grip strength, 93 (31%) had FDR q value < 0.05, 54 (18%) had an FDR q value < 0.01, and 15 (5%) had FDR q value < 0.001. For almost all miRNA–grip strength associations, increasing miRNA concentration is associated with increasing grip strength. miR‐20a‐5p (FDR q 1.8 × 10?6) had the most significant association and several among the top 15 miRNAs had links to skeletal muscle including miR‐126‐3p, miR‐30a‐5p, and miR‐30d‐5p. The top associated biologic pathways included metabolism, chemokine signaling, and ubiquitin‐mediated proteolysis. Our comprehensive assessment in a community‐based sample of miRNAs in blood associated with grip strength provides a framework to further our understanding of the biology of muscle strength. |
| |
Keywords: | aging epidemiology grip strength microRNA
mRNA
|
|
|