The serum small non-coding RNA (SncRNA) landscape as a molecular biomarker of age associated muscle dysregulation and insulin resistance in older adults.

Small noncoding RNAs (sncRNAs) are implicated in age-associated pathologies, including sarcopenia and insulin resistance (IR). This study aimed to characterise the wider circulating sncRNA transcriptome of older individuals and associations with sarcopenia and IR. Total RNA was used for sncRNA expression including miRNAs, transfer RNAs (tRNAs), tRNA-associated fragments (tRFs) and piwi-interacting RNAs (piRNAs) was measured in serum from 21 healthy and 21 sarcopenic women matched for age (mean 78.9 years) and HOMA2-IR from the Hertfordshire Sarcopenia Study. Associations with age, sarcopenia and HOMA2-IR were examined, and predicted gene targets and biological pathways characterised. Overall design: Comparative small non-coding gene expression profiling analysis of small RNA-seq data from serum of older community dwelling women from the Hertfordshire Sarcopenia Study.