Towards Uniform Gene Bank Documentation In Europe – The Experience From The EFABISnet Project

In the EFABISnet project, a collaborative effort of EAAP, FAO and partners from 14 European countries, in cooperation with the European Regional Focal Point for Animal Genetic Resources (ERFP), national information systems for monitoring the animal genetic resources on breed level were established in Austria, Cyprus, Estonia, Georgia, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Slovakia, Slovenia, Switzerland, and United Kingdom. The network was soon extended beyond the project plans, with the establishment of EFABIS databases in Finland, Greece, and Hungary. The network was then complemented by a set of inventories of national gene bank collections to strengthen the documentation of ex situ conservation programmes. These documentation systems were established by the National Focal Points for management of farm animal genetic resources. Here we present the experience gained in establishment of these national inventories of gene banks and their relevance to the Strategic Priority Areas of the Global Plan of Action which could be useful for other areas in the world

The potential of using hair cortisol to measure chronic stress in occupational healthcare; a scoping review

OBJECTIVES: Workplace-based selective prevention of mental health problems currently relies on subjective evaluation of stress complaints. Hair cortisol captures chronic stress responses and could be a promising biomarker for the early identification of mental health problems. The objective was to provide an overview of the state-of-the-art knowledge on the practical value of hair cortisol in the occupational setting. METHODS: We performed a scoping review of cross-sectional and longitudinal studies in PubMed, Embase, and PsycINFO up to November 2019 assessing the relations of hair cortisol with work-related stressors, perceived stress, and mental health outcomes in healthy workers. RESULTS: We found five longitudinal studies, of which two observed an increase in work-related stressors to be associated with higher hair cortisol, one found a relation with lower hair cortisol and one did not find a relationship. Findings of cross-sectional studies were also mixed. The one available longitudinal study regarding mental health showed that hair cortisol was not related to depressive symptoms. CONCLUSIONS: Hair cortisol measurement within occupational health research is still in its early stage and more longitudinal studies are urgently needed to clarify its relationship with work-related stressors and perceived stress before hair cortisol can be used to identify workers at risk for mental health problems

Methods for interpreting lists of affected genes obstained in a DNA microarray experiment

Background - The aim of this paper was to describe and compare the methods used and the results obtained by the participants in a joint EADGENE (European Animal Disease Genomic Network of Excellence) and SABRE (Cutting Edge Genomics for Sustainable Animal Breeding) workshop focusing on post analysis of microarray data. The participating groups were provided with identical lists of microarray probes, including test statistics for three different contrasts, and the normalised log-ratios for each array, to be used as the starting point for interpreting the affected probes. The data originated from a microarray experiment conducted to study the host reactions in broilers occurring shortly after a secondary challenge with either a homologous or heterologous species of Eimeria. Results - Several conceptually different analytical approaches, using both commercial and public available software, were applied by the participating groups. The following tools were used: Ingenuity Pathway Analysis, MAPPFinder, LIMMA, GOstats, GOEAST, GOTM, Globaltest, TopGO, ArrayUnlock, Pathway Studio, GIST and AnnotationDbi. The main focus of the approaches was to utilise the relation between probes/genes and their gene ontology and pathways to interpret the affected probes/genes. The lack of a well-annotated chicken genome did though limit the possibilities to fully explore the tools. The main results from these analyses showed that the biological interpretation is highly dependent on the statistical method used but that some common biological conclusions could be reached. Conclusion - It is highly recommended to test different analytical methods on the same data set and compare the results to obtain a reliable biological interpretation of the affected genes in a DNA microarray experimen

Trajectories of metabolic risk factors and biochemical markers prior to the onset of type 2 diabetes:The population-based longitudinal Doetinchem study

BACKGROUND: Risk factors often develop at young age and are maintained over time, but it is not fully understood how risk factors develop over time preceding type 2 diabetes. We examined how levels and trajectories of metabolic risk factors and biochemical markers prior to diagnosis differ between persons with and without type 2 diabetes over 15-20 years. METHODS: A total of 355 incident type 2 diabetes cases (285 self-reported, 70 with random glucose >= 11.1 mmol l(-1)) and 2130 controls were identified in a prospective cohort between 1987-2012. Risk factors were measured at 5-year intervals. Trajectories preceding case ascertainment were analysed using generalised estimating equations. RESULTS: Among participants with a 21-year follow-up period, those with type 2 diabetes had higher levels of metabolic risk factors and biochemical markers 15-20 years before case ascertainment. Subsequent trajectories were more unfavourable in participants with type 2 diabetes for body mass index (BMI), HDL cholesterol and glucose (P <0.01), and to a lesser extent for waist circumference, diastolic and systolic blood pressure, triglycerides, alanine aminotransferase, gamma glutamyltransferase, C-reactive protein, uric acid and estimated glomerular filtration rate compared with participants without type 2 diabetes. Among persons with type 2 diabetes, BMI increased by 5-8% over 15 years, whereas the increase among persons without type 2 diabetes was 0-2% (P <0.01). The observed differences in trajectories of metabolic risk factors and biochemical markers were largely attenuated after inclusion of BMI in the models. Results were similar for men and women. CONCLUSIONS: Participants with diabetes had more unfavourable levels of metabolic risk factors and biochemical markers already 15-20 years before diagnosis and worse subsequent trajectories than others. Our results highlight the need, in particular, for maintenance of a healthy weight from young adulthood onwards for diabetes prevention

De gezondheidseffecten van werken in ploegendienst: De rol van slaap kwaliteit en leefstijl

In onze 24-uurs economie komt nachtwerk en werk in ploegendienst steeds vaker voor. In dit onderzoek is met data van 7.000-15.000 werknemers onderzocht in hoeverre werken in ploegendienst gerelateerd is aan obesitas, diabetes, hoge bloeddruk en mentale gezondheidsproblemen. Er is gekeken of de hogere kans op gezondheidsproblemen verklaard kon worden door verminderde slaapkwaliteit en een ongezondere leefstijl onder werknemers die in ploegendienst werkten. Daarnaast is in kaart gebracht welke subgroepen een verhoogd risico lopen op gezondheidsproblemen door het werken in ploegendienst. De resultaten van dit onderzoek zijn beschreven in de factsheet

Cardiovascular risk factors over the life course

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) usually manifests itself at middle age or beyond, but it is the result of an ongoing disease process. This stresses the need for insight into changes in lifestyle and metabolic risk factors that occur throughout the life course, and their effect on CVD. We studied risk factors across generations, and observed that younger generations had a higher age-specific prevalence of hypertension, overweight and obesity than 10-year older generations. We concluded that in particular the prevalence of obesity and the lifelong exposure to obesity is increasing in younger generations. In all generations, individuals with a stable body mass index had no or slightly increasing levels of markers of oxidative stress and chronic inflammation during follow-up, while individuals with increasing body mass index had increases that were 2-4 times larger.These findings underscore the importance of maintaining a healthy weight throughout the life courseto improve population levels of oxidative stress and chronic inflammation. Subsequently, we studied the associations between risk factor profiles and the occurrence of cardiovascular diseases. Maintaining a healthy lifestyle profile (four or five healthy lifestyle factors: non-smoking, a healthy diet, adequate physical activity, moderate alcohol consumption and a healthy body mass index) was associated with a 2.5 times lower risks of CVD compared with maintaining only 0-1 healthy lifestyle factor. Independent of the lifestyle profile at young adulthood/middle age, each healthy lifestyle factor ‘lost’ over a five-year period was associated with a one-third higher risk of CVD and all-cause mortality, whereas improvement in lifestyle over the same period did not significantly reduce those risks. We further showed that only 7% of the participants maintained a low metabolic risk profile (i.e. ideal levels of blood pressure, cholesterol and body mass index, non-smoking and no diabetes) over 11 years. Participants who maintained a low metabolic risk profile had a 7 times lower risk of CVD than participants who maintained a high metabolic risk profile, whereas those with a low metabolic risk profile at baseline whose profile deteriorated over time had only a 3 times lower risk of CVD. We concluded that 40% and 86% of all CVD cases were attributable to suboptimal lifestyle profiles and metabolic risk profiles respectively. Finally, we studied trajectories of metabolic risk factors and biochemical markers preceding cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes. We showed that differences in metabolic risk factors and biochemical markers between cases and controls were already present 15-20 years before diagnosis of CVD. These differences remained constant over time. In contrast, for type 2 diabetes, levels of metabolic risk factors and biochemical markers deteriorated more rapidly in cases than in controls over the 15-20 years before diagnosis. Therefore, prevention of CVD and type 2 diabetes would require different strategies to be optimally effective. Overall, the findings of this thesis underscore the importance of not only focussing CVD prevention in high risk groups, but also at increasing the currently low proportion of adults with long-term healthy lifestyles and favourable levels of metabolic risk factors to minimalize the burden of CVD