Obstructive sleep apnea disrupts gene activity throughout the day in mice
Tracking time-dependent changes may lead to better diagnosis and understanding of health risks
2023-05-30
(Press-News.org) The low blood oxygen levels of obstructive sleep apnea cause widespread changes in gene activity throughout the day, according to a new study in the open-access journal PLOS Biology by David Smith of Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, US, and colleagues. The finding may lead to tools for earlier diagnosis and tracking of the disorder.
Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) occurs when the airway becomes blocked (usually by soft tissue, associated with snoring and interrupted breathing during the night), resulting in intermittent hypoxia (low blood oxygen) and disrupted sleep. It affects over one billion people worldwide and costs $150 billion per year in direct medical costs in the United States alone. OSA increases the risk for cardiovascular, respiratory, metabolic, and neurologic complications.
The activity of many genes varies naturally throughout the day, partially in response to activity of circadian clock genes, whose regular oscillations drive circadian variation in up to half the genome. Gene activity also varies in response to external factors, including decreases in oxygen levels, which causes production of “hypoxia-inducible factors,” which influence activity of many genes, including clock genes. To better understand how OSA may affect gene activity throughout the day, the authors exposed mice to intermittent hypoxic conditions and examined whole-genome transcription in six tissues—lung, liver, kidney, muscle, heart, and cerebellum—throughout the day. The authors then evaluated variation in the circadian timing of gene expression in these same tissues.
The largest changes were found in lung, where intermittent hypoxia affected transcription of almost 16% of all genes, most of which were upregulated. Just under 5% of genes were affected in heart, liver, and cerebellum. The subset of genes that normally exhibit circadian rhythmicity were even more strongly affected by intermittent hypoxia, with significant changes seen in 74% of such genes in the lung and 66.9% of such genes in the heart. Among the genes affected in each tissue were known clock genes, an effect that likely contributed to the large changes in circadian activity of other genes seen in these tissues.
“Our findings provide novel insight into the pathophysiological mechanisms that could be associated with end-organ damage in patients with chronic exposure to intermittent hypoxia,” Smith said, “and may be useful to identify targets for future mechanistic studies evaluating diagnostic or therapeutic approaches;” for instance, through a blood test tracking one of the dysregulated gene products to detect early OSA.
Bala S. C. Koritala adds, “Our study using an animal model of Obstructive Sleep Apnea unveils time- and tissue-specific variations of the whole genome transcriptome and associated hallmark pathways. These unique findings uncover early biological changes linked to this disorder, occurring across multiple organ systems.”
#####
In your coverage, please use this URL to provide access to the freely available paper in PLOS Biology: http://journals.plos.org/plosbiology/article?id=10.1371/journal.pbio.3002139
Citation: Koritala BSC, Lee YY, Gaspar LS, Bhadri SS, Su W, Wu G, et al. (2023) Obstructive sleep apnea in a mouse model is associated with tissue-specific transcriptomic changes in circadian rhythmicity and mean 24-hour gene expression. PLoS Biol 21(5): e3002139. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pbio.3002139
Author Countries: United States, Portugal
Funding: see manuscript
END
[Attachments] See images for this press release:
ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:
2023-05-30
Since it was identified in 1984 as the cause of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS), the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) has infected more than 80 million people and been responsible for some 40 million deaths worldwide, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). Currently, the WHO reports more than 38 million people globally live with the retrovirus, and each year, another 1 million new cases are diagnosed. While antiretroviral therapy helps keep HIV in check, patients must stay on their medication to prevent the development of AIDS.
Scientists have spent years trying to develop an ...
2023-05-30
INDIANAPOLIS—Researchers at Indiana University School of Medicine have discovered alternative gene splicing, which occurs during gene expression, can impact a person’s risk of alcohol use disorder (AUD). They recently published their findings in Molecular Psychiatry.
“AUD is a common and complex genetic disorder that happens people experience problems related to excessive alcohol consumption,” said Rudong Li, PhD, a postdoctoral fellow in the YunLong Liu, PhD Laboratory and lead author of the paper. “This discovery has revealed ...
2023-05-30
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE, May 30, 2023
Contact: Gina DiGravio, 617-358-7838, ginad@bu.edu
Novel Approach Significantly Improves Access, Decreases Wait Times for Autism Screening
Developmentally Trained-Primary Care Clinicians can reduce disparities for children referred for developmental evaluation
(Boston)—Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by impairments in social communication and the presence of repetitive and restricted behaviors or interests. The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recommends autism-specific screening at 18- and 24-month well-child visits, yet earlier diagnosis has been shown to ...
2023-05-30
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Before it was home to Spain and Portugal, much of the Iberian Peninsula was ruled by a succession of Islamic dynasties for almost 800 years during the Middle Ages. Known as al-Andalus, its influence is still reflected in art and politics today – not only in Spain and North Africa, but also in places far from the historical site of al-Andalus.
Eric Calderwood, a comparative and world literature professor at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, wrote about that influence and how it is used to make sense of the present in his new book, “On Earth or in Poems: ...
2023-05-30
A team of astrophysicists and citizen scientists have identified what may be some of the last planets NASA’s retired Kepler space telescope observed during its nearly decade-long mission.
The trio of exoplanets – worlds beyond our solar system – are all between the size of Earth and Neptune and closely orbit their stars.
''These are fairly average planets in the grand scheme of Kepler observations,” said Elyse Incha, a senior at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. “But they’re exciting because Kepler observed them during its last few days of operations. It showcases just how good Kepler was at planet hunting, even at the end of its ...
2023-05-30
The Shaw Prize in Astronomy 2023 is awarded in equal shares to Matthew Bailes, Director of the Australian Research Council (ARC) Centre of Excellence for Gravitational Wave Discovery, Duncan Lorimer, Professor and Interim Chair of Physics and Astronomy and Associate Dean for Research at Eberly College of Arts and Sciences at West Virginia University, USA and Maura McLaughlin, Eberly Family Distinguished Professor at the Department of Physics and Astronomy, West Virginia University, USA, for the discovery ...
2023-05-30
Worldwide, one of the initial responses to the COVID-19 virus was locking down parts of the economy to reduce social interactions and the virus’s spread. Now, the development and production of vaccines have largely replaced broad lockdowns. In a new study that considered epidemiology and economics, researchers sought to determine how the arrival of vaccines should affect the duration and intensity of lockdown policies. They concluded that boosting the rate of vaccine use influences intensity and duration of lockdowns, depending on a variety of factors.
The study was conducted by researchers at Carnegie Mellon University (CMU), the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis, ...
2023-05-30
Health care organizations today are caring for patients with increasingly complex needs and leveraging larger teams that include clinicians with diverse and specialized expertise. At the same time, high turnover and labor shortages mean that facilities frequently employ a more temporary and mobile workforce. In a new commentary, researchers point out that, as a result, “the structure of health care teams often defies decades of wisdom from team-design research about the conditions that support the best possible performance.”
The article was written ...
2023-05-30
30 May 2023 - A detailed plan to transform product packaging and significantly cut plastic production and pollution has been developed by researchers.
The study comes as government representatives meet in Paris to negotiate a legally binding global plastics treaty with a mandate to end plastic pollution.
The research, published today by the University of Portsmouth’s Global Plastics Policy Centre, commissioned by the Break Free From Plastic movement, consolidates 320 articles and papers, plus 55 new interviews with reuse experts from around the world [1], to suggest a universal definition of reuse systems and, for the ...
2023-05-30
Visiting zoos in silence can generate a range of novel experiences, helping people to connect to animals in a more intimate way and giving visits more gravitas, according to new research.
Experts ran special silent events at Paignton and Bristol zoos as part of a wider project on the auditory culture of zoos.
Visitors were better able to focus, concentrate and even meditate on specific animals and their behaviour, which sometimes fostered feelings of intimacy with and attachment to particular zoo animals.
The research, published in TRACE: Journal for Human-Animal Studies, was conducted by Professor Tom Rice, Dr Alexander Badman-King, Professor Sam ...
LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:
[Press-News.org] Obstructive sleep apnea disrupts gene activity throughout the day in mice
Tracking time-dependent changes may lead to better diagnosis and understanding of health risks
