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Background Optimizing resuscitation is important to prevent morbidity and mortality from perinatal asphyxia. The metabolism of cells and tissues is severely disturbed during asphyxia and resuscitation, and metabolomic analyses provide a... more
Background
Optimizing resuscitation is important to prevent morbidity and mortality from perinatal asphyxia. The metabolism of cells and tissues is severely disturbed during asphyxia and resuscitation, and metabolomic analyses provide a snapshot of many small molecular weight metabolites in body fluids or tissues. In this study metabolomics profiles were studied in newborn pigs that were asphyxiated and resuscitated using different protocols to identify biomarkers for subject characterization, intervention effects and possibly prognosis.

Methods
A total of 125 newborn Noroc pigs were anesthetized, mechanically ventilated and inflicted progressive asphyxia until asystole. Pigs were randomized to resuscitation with a FiO2 0.21 or 1.0, different duration of ventilation before initiation of chest compressions (CC), and different CC to ventilation ratios. Plasma and urine samples were obtained at baseline, and 2 h and 4 h after return of spontaneous circulation (ROSC, heart rate >= 100 bpm). Metabolomics profiles of the samples were analyzed by nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy.

Results
Plasma and urine showed severe metabolic alterations consistent with hypoxia and acidosis 2 h and 4 h after ROSC. Baseline plasma hypoxanthine and lipoprotein concentrations were inversely correlated to the duration of hypoxia sustained before asystole occurred, but there was no evidence for a differential metabolic response to the different resuscitation protocols or in terms of survival.

Conclusions
Metabolic profiles of asphyxiated newborn pigs showed severe metabolic alterations. Consistent with previously published reports, we found no evidence of differences between established and alternative resuscitation protocols. Lactate and pyruvate may have a prognostic value, but have to be independently confirmed.
Research Interests:
The cholesterol-lowering drug atorvastatin is among the most prescribed drug in the world. Alternative splicing in a number of genes has been reported to be associated with variable statin response. RNA-seq has proven to be a powerful... more
The cholesterol-lowering drug atorvastatin is among the most prescribed drug in the world. Alternative splicing in a number of genes has been reported to be associated with variable statin response. RNA-seq has proven to be a powerful technique for genome-wide splice variant analysis. In the present study, we sought to investigate atorvastatin responsive splice variants in HepG2 cells using RNA-seq analysis to identify novel candidate genes implicated in cholesterol homeostasis and in the statin response. HepG2 cells were treated with 10 µM atorvastatin for 24 hours. RNA-seq and exon array analyses were performed. The validation of selected genes was performed using Taqman gene expression assays. RNA-seq analysis identified 121 genes and 98 specific splice variants, of which four were minor splice variants to be differentially expressed, 11 were genes with potential changes in their splicing patterns (SYCP3, ZNF195, ZNF674, MYD88, WHSC1, KIF16B, ZNF92, AGER, FCHO1, SLC6A12 and AKAP9), and one was a gene (RAP1GAP) with differential promoter usage. The IL21R transcript was detected to be differentially expressed via RNA-seq and RT-qPCR, but not in the exon array. In conclusion, several novel candidate genes that are affected by atorvastatin treatment were identified in this study. Further studies are needed to determine the biological significance of the atorvastatin responsive splice variants that have been uniquely identified using RNA-seq.