The gut microbiota and cardiovascular health benefits: a focus on wholegrain oats

Existing scientific data suggest that a high intake of wholegrain foods contributes to improved gut health and a reduced risk of cardiovascular disease. Wholegrain oats are rich in dietary fibre and an important source of many bioactive components, including minerals, vitamins and phenolic compounds. The oat β‐glucans have been reported to lower low‐density lipoprotein cholesterol through their ability to increase the viscosity of intestinal chime, change the gut microbiota composition and increase the production of short‐chain fatty acids, which may contribute to the inhibition of hepatic cholesterol synthesis. Oats are also a rich source of phenolic acids, which are predominantly bound to cell wall polysaccharides through ester bonds. This bound state within oats means that phenolic acid bioavailability will largely be determined by interactions with the colonic microbiota in the large intestine. However, results from in vitro, animal and human studies have been inconsistent in relation to the impact of oats on the gut microbiota, possibly due to differences in experimental techniques and because compounds in oats, other than β‐glucans, have not been considered. This review focuses on the interaction of oat β‐glucans and phenolic acids with gut microbiota, and the subsequent link to cardiovascular health

Multi-ancestry GWAS of the electrocardiographic PR interval identifies 202 loci underlying cardiac conduction

The electrocardiographic PR interval reflects atrioventricular conduction, and is associated with conduction abnormalities, pacemaker implantation, atrial fibrillation (AF), and cardiovascular mortality. Here we report a multi-ancestry (N=293,051) genome-wide association meta-analysis for the PR interval, discovering 202 loci of which 141 have not previously been reported. Variants at identified loci increase the percentage of heritability explained, from 33.5% to 62.6%. We observe enrichment for cardiac muscle developmental/contractile and cytoskeletal genes, highlighting key regulation processes for atrioventricular conduction. Additionally, 8 loci not previously reported harbor genes underlying inherited arrhythmic syndromes and/or cardiomyopathies suggesting a role for these genes in cardiovascular pathology in the general population. We show that polygenic predisposition to PR interval duration is an endophenotype for cardiovascular disease, including distal conduction disease, AF, and atrioventricular pre-excitation. These findings advance our understanding of the polygenic basis of cardiac conduction, and the genetic relationship between PR interval duration and cardiovascular disease. On the electrocardiogram, the PR interval reflects conduction from the atria to ventricles and also serves as risk indicator of cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. Here, the authors perform genome-wide meta-analyses for PR interval in multiple ancestries and identify 141 previously unreported genetic loci.Peer reviewe

A922 Sequential measurement of 1 hour creatinine clearance (1-CRCL) in critically ill patients at risk of acute kidney injury (AKI)

Meeting abstrac

Digital Science Webinar: The State of Open Data

This webinar covers key findings from the State of Open Data report and global researcher survey, plus emerging policies for open research data in the US and Europe, and big data, knowledge production and the political economy of research. Speakers include Jon Treadway, Digital Science, Dr Sabina Leonelli, University of Exeter, Heather Joseph, Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition, Aki MacFarlane, Research Analyst, Open Research, Wellcome Trust and Deni Auclair, CFO and Senior Analyst Delta Think

Developing international open science collaborations: Funder reflections on the Open Science Prize - Fig 1

<p>The 6 Phase I finalists were: (a) “OpenAQ: A Global Community Building the First Open, Real-Time Air Quality Data Hub for the World,” providing real-time information on poor air quality by combining data from across the globe, (b) “OpenTrialsFDA: Making Unbiased Clinical Trial Data Accessible,” enabling better access to drug-approval packages submitted to and made available by the Food and Drug Administration, (c) “Open Neuroimaging Laboratory,” advancing brain research by enabling collaborative annotation, discovery, and analysis of brain-imaging data, d) “Fruit Fly Brain Observatory,” allowing researchers to better conduct modeling of mental and neurological diseases by connecting data related to the fly brain, (e) “MyGene2: Accelerating Gene Discovery via Radically Open Data Sharing,” facilitating the public sharing of health and genetic data through integration with publicly available information, and (f) “Real-Time Evolutionary Tracking for Pathogen Surveillance and Epidemiological Investigation,” permitting real-time analysis of emerging epidemics, such as Ebola, Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Conavirus, and Zika.</p