Tissue-specific transcriptome assemblies of the marine medaka Oryzias melastigma and comparative analysis with the freshwater medaka Oryzias latipes

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Relationship between diabetic retinopathy and subclinical myocardial dysfunction in patients with diabetic mellitus

Poster Session 1 - Imaging metabolic cardiomyopathy: abstract no. P637BACKGROUND: Patient with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is associated with 2-5 fold higher risk of developing heart failure than those without. One of the proposed pathology leading to this is microvascular dysfunction. In concordance with this hypothesis, diabetic retinopathy, a specific manifestation of microvascular dysfunction, has been shown to be associated with heart failure in patients with T2DM. Nonetheless, the relationship between diabetic retinopathy with myocardial function is unclear. METHODS: 283 patients (mean age 63±9, 47% male) with type 2 diabetic mellitus (T2DM) without history of cardiovascular diseases was recruited ...postprin

Identification and Expression Profiling of MicroRNAs in the Brain, Liver and Gonads of Marine Medaka (Oryzias melastigma) and in Response to Hypoxia

The marine medaka (Oryzias melastigma) has been increasingly used as a fish model for detecting environmental stresses and chemical contaminants in the marine environment. Recent mammalian studies have shown that environmental stresses can alter the expression profiles of microRNAs (miRNAs), leading to transgenerational effects. Here, we use high-throughput Illumina RNA sequencing (RNA-Seq) for miRNA transcriptome analysis of brain, liver, and gonads from sexually mature male and female marine medaka. A total of 128,883,806 filtered sequence reads were generated from six small RNA libraries, identifying a total of 2,125,663 non-redundant sequences. These sequences were aligned and annotated to known animal miRNAs (miRBase) using the BLAST method. A total of 223 distinct miRNA types were identified, with the greatest number expressed in brain tissue. Our data suggested that 55 miRNA types from 34 families are common to all tested tissues, while some of the miRNAs are tissue-enriched or sex-enriched. Quantitative real-time PCR analysis further demonstrated that let-7a, miR-122, and miR-9-3p were downregulated in hypoxic female medaka, while miR-2184 was specifically upregulated in the testis of hypoxic male fish. This is the first study to identify miRNAs in O. melastigma using small RNA deep sequencing technology. Because miRNA expression is highly conserved between marine medaka and other vertebrates, marine medaka may serve as a good model for studies on the functional roles of miRNAs in hypoxia stress response and signaling in marine fish.published_or_final_versio

Hypoxia causes transgenerational impairments in reproduction of fish

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Hypoxia induces miR-210, leading to anti-apoptosis in ovarian follicular cells of marine medaka Oryzias melastigma

Hypoxia is a major global problem that impairs reproductive functions and reduces the quality and quantity of gametes and the fertilization success of marine fish. Nevertheless, the detailed molecular mechanism underlying hypoxia-induced female reproductive impairment remains largely unknown. There is increasing evidence that miRNA is vital in regulating ovarian functions and is closely associated with female fertility in humans. Certain miRNAs that regulate apoptotic genes can be induced by hypoxia, resulting in cell apoptosis. Using primary ovarian follicular cells of the marine medaka, Oryzias melastigma, as a model, we investigated the response of miR-210 to hypoxic stress in ovarian tissues to see if it would interrupt reproductive functions. A significant induction of miR-210 was found in primary ovarian follicular cells exposed to hypoxia, and gene ontology analysis further highlighted the potential roles of miR-210 in cell proliferation, cell differentiation, and cell apoptosis. A number of miR-210 target apoptotic genes, including Deleted in liver cancer 1 protein (DLC1), STE20-like serine/threonine-protein kinase (SLK), tumor necrosis factor receptor superfamily member 10b (TNFRSF10B), RNA binding motif protein 25 (RBM25), and Ubiquitin-specific-processing protease 7 (USP7), were identified. We further showed that ectopic expression of miR-210 would result in down-regulation of these apoptotic genes. On the other hand, the inhibition of miR-210 promoted apoptotic cell death and the expression of apoptotic marker – caspase 3 in follicular cells under hypoxic treatment, supporting the regulatory role of miR-210 in ovarian cell apoptosis. This study provides new insights on how hypoxia induces miR-210, leading to anti-apoptosis in ovarian follicular cells in fish, which is fundamentally important in environmental sciences and reproductive biology

Electromechanical interplay in Diabetic Cardiomyopathy:Relationship between diastolic dysfunction and T-wave alternans

This journal suppl. entitled: 6th APHRS Scientific Session & CardioRhythm 2013Poster Presentation - Heart Failure & Remote Patient Monitoring: no. P1-064No abstract printe

Assessment of carotid intima-media thickness in patients with axial Spondyloarthritis: relationship with disease serverity

PosterOBJECTIVE: Axial spondyloarthritis (SpA) is a chronic rheumatic disease characterised by inflammation of the spine, sacroiliac and peripheral joints, causing pain and functional disabilities. As the disease advances, syndesmophytes will form in axial joints leading to further functional loss. Carotid intima-media thickness (IMT) is widely used as a surrogate marker for subclinical atherosclerosis. It is proposed that persistent systemic inflammation in SpA is associated with early carotid atherosclerosis. The aim of this study was to evaluate the changes of carotid IMT in patients with axial SpA and their relationship with the underlying disease severity. METHODS: A total of 104 patients with axial SpA (mean age, 45.5 ± 13.3 years; 69.2% male) and 52 age- and gendermatched healthy controls were enrolled into the study. All patients underwent clinical examination, laboratory blood tests, and spine radiographs. High-resolution ultrasonography was used to measure far-wall carotid IMT at the common carotid artery. Bilateral maximum carotid IMT measurements were performed offline using semi-automated imaging processing software and the mean carotid IMT was calculated for evaluating atherosclerosis. The disease duration, erythrocyte sedimentation rate and C-reactive protein levels, Bath Ankylosing spondylitis Disease Activity Index (BASDAI), and Bath Ankylosing Spondylitis Functional Index (BASFI) scores were recorded. The disease severity of the axial SpA patients was assessed by modified Stoke Ankylosing Spondylitis Spine Score (mSASSS). RESULTS: Carotid IMT was significantly increased in patients with axial SpA compared with controls (0.78 ± 0.19 mm vs 0.69 ± 0.10 mm; P < 0.001). In axial SpA patients, BASDAI (β = 0.22, P = 0.03), BASFI (β = 0.45, P < 0.001), and mSASSS (β = 0.60, P < 0.001) correlated significantly with carotid IMT. Multivariate analysis adjusting for potential confounding factors demonstrated that mSASSS was independently associated with carotid IMT (β = 0.23, 95% confidence interval, 0.00-0.01; P=0.03). In patients with mSASSS score above the median value (14.75), carotid IMT was significantly higher compared with patients below the median value (0.85 ± 0.18 mm vs 0.71 ± 0.16 mm; P < 0.001). CONCLUSION: Our study demonstrated that patients with axial SpA had early carotid atherosclerosis. mSASSS remained independently associated with carotid IMT after adjusting for the confounding factors. Importantly, the group with mSASSS score above the median value had a significantly higher carotid IMT. In conclusion, this study shows that patients with axial SpA have a tendency to develop subclinical atherosclerosis which correlates significantly with the disease severity. Whether effective disease control could prevent the development of atherosclerosis remains to be investigated