• Esther Barreiro.
• a Respiratory Medicine Department, Muscle Wasting and Cachexia in Chronic Respiratory Diseases and Lung Cancer Research Group , Institute of Medical Research of Hospital del Mar (IMIM)-Hospital del Mar, Parc de Salut Mar, Barcelona Biomedical Research Park (PRBB) , Barcelona , Spain.
• Expert Rev Respir Med. 2016 Sep 1; 10 (9): 1011-22.

IntroductionChronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a common preventable and treatable disease and a leading cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide. In COPD, comorbidities, acute exacerbations, and systemic manifestations negatively influence disease severity, prognosis, and progression regardless of the respiratory condition.Areas CoveredSeveral factors and biological mechanisms are involved in the pathophysiology of COPD muscle dysfunction. The non-coding microRNAs were shown to be differentially expressed in the respiratory and limb muscles of patients with COPD. Moreover, a differential expression profile of muscle-specific microRNAs has also been demonstrated in the lower limb muscles of COPD patients with and without muscle mass loss and weakness. All these features are reviewed herein. The most relevant articles on the topic in question were selected from PubMed to write this review. Expert commentary: MicroRNAs are excellent targets for the design of specific therapeutic interventions in patients with muscle weakness. Selective enhancers of microRNAs that promote myogenesis (proliferation and differentiation of satellite cells) should be designed to alleviate the negative impact of skeletal muscle dysfunction and mass loss in COPD regardless of the degree of the airway obstruction.

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