Antioxidant Response in Gills of Eurasian Perch ( Perca fluviatilis ) to Cyanobacterial Bloom Exposure in the Gruža Reservoir

The aim of this study was to assess the impact of an Aphanizomenon flos-aquae bloom in the Gruža Reservoir on the antioxidant parameters measured in the gill cells of Eurasian perch (Perca fluviatilis). Effects of the bloom were evaluated through copper, zinc and manganese containing superoxide dismutase (CuZnSOD and MnSOD), catalase (CAT), glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px), glutathione reductase (GR) and biotransformation phase II enzyme glutathione-S-transferase (GST) activities and glutathione (GSH) and sulfydryl (–SH) groups concentrations. The activities of CuZn SOD and Mn SOD decreased during the cyanobacterial bloom compared to the period before the bloom. The opposite trend was observed for CAT and GSH-Px activities that increased. During the bloom GR and GST activities and GSH concentration decreased significantly. CuZn SOD, GR and GST activities are detected as the most important parameters for individual variations. Our results indicated that an A. flos-aquae bloom promotes oxidative stress in the gills of P. fluviatilis. The investigated parameters could be used in environmental risk assessment procedures to monitor the effects of A. flos-aquae blooms on fish. Observed changes in the antioxidant parameters in P. fluviatilis gills make them potential biomarkers in the research of ecological risk situations in freshwater ecosystems with frequent cyanobacterial blooms.Water Research and Management (2016), 6(2): 19-2

Antioxidant Response in Gills of Eurasian Perch ( Perca fluviatilis ) to Cyanobacterial Bloom Exposure in the Gruža Reservoir

The aim of this study was to assess the impact of an Aphanizomenon flos-aquae bloom in the Gruža Reservoir on the antioxidant parameters measured in the gill cells of Eurasian perch (Perca fluviatilis). Effects of the bloom were evaluated through copper, zinc and manganese containing superoxide dismutase (CuZnSOD and MnSOD), catalase (CAT), glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px), glutathione reductase (GR) and biotransformation phase II enzyme glutathione-S-transferase (GST) activities and glutathione (GSH) and sulfydryl (–SH) groups concentrations. The activities of CuZn SOD and Mn SOD decreased during the cyanobacterial bloom compared to the period before the bloom. The opposite trend was observed for CAT and GSH-Px activities that increased. During the bloom GR and GST activities and GSH concentration decreased significantly. CuZn SOD, GR and GST activities are detected as the most important parameters for individual variations. Our results indicated that an A. flos-aquae bloom promotes oxidative stress in the gills of P. fluviatilis. The investigated parameters could be used in environmental risk assessment procedures to monitor the effects of A. flos-aquae blooms on fish. Observed changes in the antioxidant parameters in P. fluviatilis gills make them potential biomarkers in the research of ecological risk situations in freshwater ecosystems with frequent cyanobacterial blooms.Water Research and Management (2016), 6(2): 19-2

Long-term air pollution exposure, genome-wide DNA methylation and lung function in the lifelines cohort study

BACKGROUND: Long-term air pollution exposure is negatively associated with lung function, yet the mechanisms underlying this association are not fully clear. Differential DNA methylation may explain this association. OBJECTIVES: Our main aim was to study the association between long-term air pollution exposure and DNA methylation. METHODS: We performed a genome-wide methylation study using robust linear regression models in 1,017 subjects from the LifeLines cohort study to analyze the association between exposure to nitrogen dioxide (NO2) and particulate matter (PM2.5, fine particulate ma

An integrative cross-omics analysis of DNA methylation sites of glucose and insulin homeostasis

Despite existing reports on differential DNA methylation in type 2 diabetes (T2D) and obesity, our understanding of its functional relevance remains limited. Here we show the effect of differential methylation in the early phases of T2D pathology by a blood-based epigenome-wide association study of 4808 non-diabetic Europeans in the discovery phase and 11,750 individuals in the replication. We identify CpGs in LETM1, RBM20, IRS2, MAN2A2 and the 1q25.3 region associated with fasting insulin, and in FCRL6, SLAMF1, APOBEC3H and the 15q26.1 region with fasting glucose. In silico cross-omics analyses highlight the role of differential methylation in the crosstalk between the adaptive immune system and glucose homeostasis. The differential methylation explains at least 16.9% of the association between obesity and insulin. Our study sheds light on the biological interactions between genetic variants driving differential methylation and gene expression in the early pathogenesis of T2D

From blood to lung tissue: Effect of cigarette smoke on DNA methylation and lung function 06 Biological Sciences 0604 Genetics 11 Medical and Health Sciences 1102 Cardiorespiratory Medicine and Haematology

Background: Genetic and environmental factors play a role in the development of COPD. The epigenome, and more specifically DNA methylation, is recognized as important link between these factors. We postulate that DNA methylation is one of the routes by which cigarette smoke influences the development of COPD. In this study, we aim to identify CpG-sites that are associated with cigarette smoke exposure and lung function levels in whole blood and validate these CpG-sites in lung tissue. Methods: The association between pack years and DNA methylation was studied genome-wide in 658 current smokers with >5 pack years using robust linear regression analysis. Using mediation analysis, we subsequently selected the CpG-sites that were also associated with lung function levels. Significant CpG-sites were validated in lung tissue with pyrosequencing and expression quantitative trait methylation (eQTM) analysis was performed to investigate the association between DNA methylation and gene expression. Results: 15 CpG-sites were significantly associated with pack years and 10 of these were additionally associated with lung function levels. We validated 5 CpG-sites in lung tissue and found several associations between DNA methylation and gene expression. Conclusion: This study is the first to validate a panel of CpG-sites that are associated with cigarette smoking and lung function levels in whole blood in the tissue of interest: lung tissue

Whole-exome sequence analysis of anthropometric traits illustrates challenges in identifying effects of rare genetic variants

Anthropometric traits, measuring body size and shape, are highly heritable and significant clinical risk factors for cardiometabolic disorders. These traits have been extensively studied in genome-wide association studies (GWASs), with hundreds of genome-wide significant loci identified. We performed a whole-exome sequence analysis of the genetics of height, body mass index (BMI) and waist/hip ratio (WHR). We meta-analyzed single-variant and gene-based associations of whole-exome sequence variation with height, BMI, and WHR in up to 22,004 individuals, and we assessed replication of our findings in up to 16,418 individuals from 10 independent cohorts from Trans-Omics for Precision Medicine (TOPMed). We identified four trait associations with single-nucleotide variants (SNVs; two for height and two for BMI) and replicated the LECT2 gene association with height. Our expression quantitative trait locus (eQTL) analysis within previously reported GWAS loci implicated CEP63 and RFT1 as potential functional genes for known height loci. We further assessed enrichment of SNVs, which were monogenic or syndromic variants within loci associated with our three traits. This led to the significant enrichment results for height, whereas we observed no Bonferroni-corrected significance for all SNVs. With a sample size of ∼20,000 whole-exome sequences in our discovery dataset, our findings demonstrate the importance of genomic sequencing in genetic association studies, yet they also illustrate the challenges in identifying effects of rare genetic variants