Expression of genes in the skeletal muscle of individuals with cachexia/sarcopenia: A systematic review
Open accessAbstract
BACKGROUND: Cachexia occurs in individuals affected by chronic diseases in which systemic inflammation leads to fatigue, debilitation, decreased physical activity and sarcopenia. The pathogenesis of cachexia-associated sarcopenia is not fully understood. OBJECTIVES: The aim of this systematic review is to summarize the current evidence on genes expressed in the skeletal muscles of humans with chronic disease-associated cachexia and/or sarcopenia (cases) compared to controls and to assess the strength of such evidence. METHODS: We searched PubMed, EMBASE and CINAHL using three concepts: cachexia/sarcopenia and associated symptoms, gene expression, and skeletal muscle. RESULTS: Eighteen genes were studied in at least three research articles, for a total of 27 articles analyzed in this review. Participants were approximately 60 years of age and majority male; sample size was highly variable. Use of comparison groups, matching criteria, muscle biopsy location, and definitions of cachexia and sarcopenia were not homogenous. None of the studies fulfilled all four criteria used to assess the quality of molecular analysis, with only one study powered on the outcome of gene expression. FOXO1 was the only gene significantly increased in cases versus healthy controls. No study found a significant decrease in expression of genes involved in autophagy, apoptosis or inflammation in cases versus controls. Inconsistent or non-significant findings were reported for genes involved in protein degradation, muscle differentiation/growth, insulin/insulin growth factor-1 or mitochondrial transcription. CONCLUSION: Currently available evidence on gene expression in the skeletal muscles of humans with chronic disease-associated cachexia and/or sarcopenia is not powered appropriately and is not homogenous; therefore, it is difficult to compare results across studies and diseases.
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A recent systematic review emphasizes the lack of consistency between reported data on gene expression in skeletal muscle.
“A recent systematic review emphasizes the lack of consistency between reported data on gene expression in skeletal muscle [189].”
From Main Pathogenic Mechanisms and Recent Advances in COPD Peripheral Skeletal Muscle Wasting (2023) · cites this paper as [189]
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- Authors
- Byrne, C. A., McNeil, A. T., Koh, T. J., Brunskill, A. F., & Fantuzzi, G.
- Affiliations
- University of Illinois Chicago (US)
- Corresponding author
- Fantuzzi, Giamila
- Venue
- PLOS ONE
- Publisher
- Public Library of Science (PLoS)
- Published
- 2019-09-09
- Volume
- 14
- Issue
- 9
- Pages
- e0222345
- ISSN
- 1932-6203 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC6733509
- OpenAlex
- W2972805692
- Cited by
- 15
- References
- 46
- Citations by year
- 2025: 2 · 2024: 1 · 2023: 3 · 2022: 3 · 2021: 3 · 2020: 3
- FWCI
- 0.20
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- gold
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- PLoS ONE (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- RePEc: Research Papers in Economics (submittedVersion)
- DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
- Figshare (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › Muscle Physiology and Disorders
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Physiology › Nutrition and Health in Aging
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Cell Biology › Muscle metabolism and nutrition
- Keywords
- cachexia, sarcopenia, skeletal muscle, gene expression, chronic disease, FOXO1, autophagy, apoptosis, inflammation, protein degradation, insulin/IGF-1 signaling, mitochondrial transcription, muscle biopsy
- MeSH terms
- Cachexia, Female, Humans, Male, Middle Aged, Gene Expression, Muscle, Skeletal, Sarcopenia
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