The effect of COVID-19 infection on retinal nerve fiber layer and ganglion cell complex layer thicknesses

Aim:  To evaluate the possible effects of SARS-CoV-2 infection on retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL) and ganglion cell complex layer (GC-IPL) thicknesses. Method: Patients who had been infected by SARS-CoV-2 and hospitalized because of severe pneumonia were found out from the database of COVID-19 pandemic hospital and formed the patient group. The control group was composed of non-COVID-19 age-matched subjects. The mean and fragmented RNFL and GC-IPL thicknesses were measured by optical coherence tomography (OCT), and compared between two groups, statistically. Results: Patient group 34 eyes of 34 subjects (18 male, 16 female) and 31 eyes of 31 subjects (14 male, 17 female) in the control group were enrolled. The mean age and gender were not statistically different between groups (p:0.56, 0,57, respectively).A statistically significant difference was not found between groups in terms of mean, superior, inferior, temporal, nasal RNFL thicknesses and mean superior, inferior, temporal, and nasal GC-IPL thicknesses. Conclusion: The mean and fragmented RNFL and GC-IPL thicknesses measured by OCT were not statistically different in patients who had moderate disease course and recovered from COVID-19 infection

Determination of Genetic Variations of Toll-Like Receptor (TLR) 2, 4, and 6 with Next-Generation Sequencing in Native Cattle Breeds of Anatolia and Holstein Friesian

In recent years, the focus of disease resistance and susceptibility studies in cattle have been on determining patterns in the innate immune response of key proteins, such as Toll-like receptors (TLR). In the bovine genome, there are 10 TLR family members and, of these, TLR2, TLR4, and TLR6 are specialized in the recognition of bacterial ligands. Indigenous cattle breeds of Anatolia have been reported to show fewer signs of clinical bacterial infections, such as bovine tuberculosis and mastitis, and it is hypothesized that this might be due to a less stringent genetic selection during breeding. In contrast, Holstein-Friesian cattle have been under strong selection for milk production, which may have resulted in greater susceptibility to diseases. To test this hypothesis, we have compared the TLR2, TLR4, and TLR6 genes of Anatolian Black (AB), East Anatolian Red (EAR), South Anatolian Red (SAR), Turkish Grey (TG), and Holstein (HOL) cattle using next-generation sequencing. The SAR breed had the most variations overall, followed by EAR, AB, TG, and HOL. TG had the most variations for TLR2, whereas SAR had the most variations in TLR4 and TLR6. We compared these variants with those associated with disease and susceptibility traits. We used exon variants to construct haplotypes, investigated shared haplotypes within breeds, and proposed candidate haplotypes for a disease resistance phenotype in Anatolian cattle breeds

Large-Scale Mitochondrial DNA Analysis of the Domestic Goat Reveals Six Haplogroups with High Diversity

Background. From the beginning of domestication, the transportation of domestic animals resulted in genetic and demographic processes that explain their present distribution and genetic structure. Thus studying the present genetic diversity helps to better understand the history of domestic species. Methodology/Principal Findings. The genetic diversity of domestic goats has been characterized with 2430 individuals from all over the old world, including 946 new individuals from regions poorly studied until now (mainly the Fertile Crescent). These individuals represented 1540 haplotypes for the HVI segment of the mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) control region. This large-scale study allowed the establishment of a clear nomenclature of the goat maternal haplogroups. Only five of the six previously defined groups of haplotypes were divergent enough to be considered as different haplogroups. Moreover a new mitochondrial group has been localized around the Fertile Crescent. All groups showed very high haplotype diversity. Most of this diversity was distributed among groups and within geographic regions. The weak geographic structure may result from the worldwide distribution of the dominant A haplogroup (more than 90% of the individuals). The large-scale distribution of other haplogroups (except one), may be related to human migration. The recent fragmentation of local goat populations into discrete breeds is not detectable with mitochondrial markers. The estimation of demographic parameters from mismatch analyses showed that all groups had a recent demographic expansion corresponding roughly to the period when domestication took place. But even with a large data set it remains difficult to give relative dates of expansion for different haplogroups because of large confidence intervals. Conclusions/Significance. We propose standard criteria for the definition of the different haplogroups based on the result of mismatch analysis and on the use of sequences of reference. Such a method could be also applied for clarifying the nomenclature of mitochondrial haplogroups in other domestic species

Microsatellite diversity of the Nordic type of goats in relation to breed conservation: how relevant is pure ancestry?

In the last decades, several endangered breeds of livestock species have been re-established effectively. However, the successful revival of the Dutch and Danish Landrace goats involved crossing with exotic breeds and the ancestry of the current populations is therefore not clear. We have generated genotypes for 27 FAO-recommended microsatellites of these landraces and three phenotypically similar Nordic-type landraces and compared these breeds with central European, Mediterranean and south-west Asian goats. We found decreasing levels of genetic diversity with increasing distance from the south-west Asian domestication site with a south-east-to-north-west cline that is clearly steeper than the Mediterranean east-to-west cline. In terms of genetic diversity, the Dutch Landrace comes next to the isolated Icelandic breed, which has an extremely low diversity. The Norwegian coastal goat and the Finnish and Icelandic landraces are clearly related. It appears that by a combination of mixed origin and a population bottleneck, the Dutch and Danish Land-races are separated from the other breeds. However, the current Dutch and Danish populations with the multicoloured and long-horned appearance effectively substitute for the original breed, illustrating that for conservation of cultural heritage, the phenotype of a breed is more relevant than pure ancestry and the genetic diversity of the original breed. More in general, we propose that for conservation, the retention of genetic diversity of an original breed and of the visual phenotype by which the breed is recognized and defined needs to be considered separately

Omecamtiv mecarbil in chronic heart failure with reduced ejection fraction, GALACTIC‐HF: baseline characteristics and comparison with contemporary clinical trials

Aims: The safety and efficacy of the novel selective cardiac myosin activator, omecamtiv mecarbil, in patients with heart failure with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF) is tested in the Global Approach to Lowering Adverse Cardiac outcomes Through Improving Contractility in Heart Failure (GALACTIC‐HF) trial. Here we describe the baseline characteristics of participants in GALACTIC‐HF and how these compare with other contemporary trials. Methods and Results: Adults with established HFrEF, New York Heart Association functional class (NYHA) ≥ II, EF ≤35%, elevated natriuretic peptides and either current hospitalization for HF or history of hospitalization/ emergency department visit for HF within a year were randomized to either placebo or omecamtiv mecarbil (pharmacokinetic‐guided dosing: 25, 37.5 or 50 mg bid). 8256 patients [male (79%), non‐white (22%), mean age 65 years] were enrolled with a mean EF 27%, ischemic etiology in 54%, NYHA II 53% and III/IV 47%, and median NT‐proBNP 1971 pg/mL. HF therapies at baseline were among the most effectively employed in contemporary HF trials. GALACTIC‐HF randomized patients representative of recent HF registries and trials with substantial numbers of patients also having characteristics understudied in previous trials including more from North America (n = 1386), enrolled as inpatients (n = 2084), systolic blood pressure < 100 mmHg (n = 1127), estimated glomerular filtration rate < 30 mL/min/1.73 m2 (n = 528), and treated with sacubitril‐valsartan at baseline (n = 1594). Conclusions: GALACTIC‐HF enrolled a well‐treated, high‐risk population from both inpatient and outpatient settings, which will provide a definitive evaluation of the efficacy and safety of this novel therapy, as well as informing its potential future implementation

Blood Protein Polymorphism of Horse Types Being Bred by Public at Villages in Three Different Regions of Turkey

Different breeds and types of horses are raised in different regions of Turkey. The numbers and types of native horses have declined steadily over time because of increased agricultural mechanization. The blood samples of 85 native Turkish horses of different types from different geographical regions (Kars-Erzurum 30, Sanliurfa 20 and Adapazari 35) were analysed for blood protein polymorphism. Starch gel electrophoresis, polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and polyacrylamide isoelectric focusing were used to identify genotypic variants of albumin (ALB), transferrin (TF), hemoglobin alpha (HBA), vitamin D-binding protein (GC), serum carboxylesterase (ES), A1B-glycoprotein (A1B), 6-phosphogluconate dehyrogenase (6-PGD) and phosphoglucomutase (PGM) loci. The direct counting method was used to calculate the frequency of genes for blood protein systems. Homozygosity degrees and chi-square were calculated with the frequency of genes for blood protein systems. According to the results of chi-square testing on eight systems of three different regions, 6-PGD system was significant P<0.001 in the eastern population (Kars-Erzurum). Among the local horses in the south-east region (Sanliurfa) 6-PGD system (P<0.001) and HBA system (P<0.05) were found to be significant. On the other hand, in the western region (Adapazari), chi-square analyses of 6-PGD and HBA systems were found to be significant at P<0.05. In this study, it was found that the three different local horse types in the three regions descended from the same origin

Use of RAPD-PCR for genetic analyses on the native cattle breeds in Turkey

The purpose of this study was to identify the genetic relationship and variations within and between local cattle breeds of Turkey using RAPD-PCR method which needs fewer substructures when compared to other DNA fingerprinting methods. The RAPD-PCR method was performed on blood samples of 77 animals from four breeds namely Anatolian Black (AB), East Anatolian Red (EAR), South Anatolian Red (SAR) and Turkish Grey Steppe (TG). A set of ten arbitrary 10-mer primers were used to detect the DNA polymorphisms in the whole genome. Estimation of the genetic distances between the breeds was conducted through the F(ST) Distant Estimation Method, and cluster trees were constructed by UPGMA Method. Based on the band sharing method, the average genetic variances of the breeds varied from 0.637 (in TG) to 0.809 (in SAR), AB and EAR had 0.792 and 0.787, respectively. It was concluded that AB breed is more closely related to EAR breed than to SAR breed while TO breed was determined as a distinct group from other breeds

Detection of Bovine Leukocyte Adhesion Deficiency (BLAD) Allele in Holstein Cows Reared in Kayseri Vicinity

The purpose of this work was to study whether the bovine leukocyte adhesion deficiency (BLAD) allele was present in the Holstein cows reared in Kayseri vicinity. Blood samples were obtained from 136 Holstein cows. In order to determine the area of mutation in PCR products, the PCR products were digested with TaqI endonuclease enzyme. It was found that three of the 136 Holstein cows were BLAD carriers. The mutant BLAD allele frequency in the 136 Holstein cows was calculated as 2.2%.