Fig. 4.

Increased serum IGF1 and decreased miR-29a levels in skeletal muscle from GHD patients with decreased insulin sensitivity after GHRT. Ten GHD patients were subjected to GHRT for 4 months. a Changes in serum IGF1 and miR-29a levels in biopsies from the tibialis anterior muscle in GHD patients after 4 months of GHRT. Values are shown for the whole cohort, n = 10, or separately analyzed for individuals with improved IS (HOMA-IR decreased), n = 5, or worsened IS (HOMA-IR increased), n = 5, after GHRT. b Relationship between the change in insulin sensitivity (ΔHOMA-IR) induced by 4 months of GHRT and the change in miR-29a levels in skeletal muscle biopsies. The dashed lines indicate the intercept points corresponding to a Δ value of 1, i.e., no change in HOMA-IR or miR-29a levels. miRNA levels were analyzed by qRT-PCR and normalized to miR-let-7. Results are shown as fold change of values after GHRT compared to values before GHRT. *p < 0.05, **p<0.01 (Student’s t test)