Circulating microRNA profile in humans and mice with congenital GH deficiency

Reduced inflammation, increased insulin sensitivity, and protection against cancer are shared between humans and mice with GH/IGF1 deficiency. Beyond hormone levels, miRNAs are important regulators of metabolic changes associated with healthy aging. We hypothesized that GH deficiency in humans alters the abundance of circulating miRNAs and that a subset of those miRNAs may overlap with those found in GH-deficient mice. In this study, subjects with untreated congenital isolated GH deficiency (IGHD; n = 23) and control subjects matched by age and sex (n = 23) were recruited and serum was collected for miRNA sequencing. Serum miRNAs from young (6 month) and old (22 month) Ames dwarf (df/df) mice with GH deficiency and their WT littermates (n = 5/age/genotype group) were used for comparison. We observed 14 miRNAs regulated with a genotype by age effect and 19 miRNAs regulated with a genotype effect independent of age in serum of IGHD subjects. These regulated miRNAs are known for targeting pathways associated with longevity such as mTOR, insulin signaling, and FoxO. The aging function was overrepresented in IGHD individuals, mediated by hsa-miR-31, hsa-miR-146b, hsa-miR-30e, hsa-miR-100, hsa-miR-181b-2, hsa-miR-195, and hsa-miR-181b-1, which target the FoxO and mTOR pathways. Intriguingly, miR-181b-5p, miR-361-3p, miR-144-3p, and miR-155-5p were commonly regulated in the serum of humans and GH-deficient mice. In vitro assays confirmed target genes for the main up-regulated miRNAs, suggesting miRNAs regulated in IGHD individuals can regulate the expression of age-related genes. These findings indicate that systemic miRNAs regulated in IGHD individuals target pathways involved in aging in both humans and mice.