MiRNA expression data of distal colon mucosa from young and old human

The disruption of the mucosal barrier of the digestive tract is a common pathological change in the elderly, which often causes inflammatory bowel disease among old people.Given that microRNA (miRNA) molecules are dysregulated in many diseases, the miRNA expression in young and old normal distal colon mucosa in humans was determined by high-throughput analysis. Three young people (27, 28, and 36 years of age) and 3 aged people (72, 79, and 81 years of age) were enrolled in this study. We used microarray analysis to identify miRNA expression in the distal colon mucosa. A total 6 normal clinical colon mucosa tissue samples from different colorectal cancer patients were collected immediately after surgical resection prior to any other therapeutic intervention. All patients fulfilled the inclusion criteria as follows: (1) Age: young adults 27-36 years old and elderly adults 72-81 years old; (2) All patients were chemotherapy and radiation therapy naïve; (3) The removed normal tissue samples located at descending colon (distal colon). After collection, the samples were stored at -80 °C.