Project description:The study will examine the validity and reliability of the Mediterranean Colorectal Cancer Registry. Aspects of the analysis will cover parallel forms reliability, test-retest reliability, split half internal consistency and face validity of the Mediterranean Colorectal Cancer Registry.
Project description:Dietary changes associated with industrialization substantially increase the prevalence of chronic diseases, such as obesity, type II diabetes, and cardiovascular disease, which are major contributors to the public health burden. The high prevalence of these chronic diseases is often attributed to an “evolutionary mismatch,” between human physiology and modern nutritional environments. In support of this idea, Western diets enriched with foods that were scarce throughout human evolutionary history (e.g., simple sugars and saturated fats) promote inflammation and disease relative to diets more akin to hunter-gatherer diets, such as a Mediterranean diet; however, the mechanisms linking dietary mismatch to inflammation and chronic disease are poorly understood. We used a macaque model and whole diet manipulations to evaluate one possible mechanism – inflammatory polarization of monocytes – that potentially leads to this evolutionary mismatch. After consuming a Western- or Mediterranean-like diet for 15 months, monocytes from Western diet consumers exhibited a more proinflammatory phenotype, with 40% of their genes differentially expressed (FDR<0.05). Compared to the Mediterranean diet, the Western diet shifted the co-expression of 445 gene pairs, including small RNAs and transcription factors associated with metabolism and adiposity in humans, and dramatically altered animal behavior. For example, Western-fed individuals were more anxious and less socially integrated compared to the Mediterranean-fed subjects. These behavioral changes mediated some of the effects of diet on gene expression, suggesting an interaction between diet, central nervous system activity, and monocyte gene expression. The results of this study provide new insights into evolutionary mismatch at the molecular level and uncover new pathways through which Western diets generate inflammation and disease.
2020-01-28 | GSE144314 | GEO
Project description:RAD-seq of the big-headed turtle
Project description:The host response within the eschar of inoculation during Mediterranean spotted fever (MSF) has been poorly studied. Our objective was to evaluate the host response by comparing transcriptional profiles of eschars to controls using a whole-genome microarray. Hierarchical clustering revealed a signature of eschars consisting of 698 genes. The genes included in this signature were mainly up-regulated and were predominantly associated with immune response and signalling. New molecules involved notably in microbicidal and innate immunity response have also been found up-regulated in eschars such as MMP1, Defensin β4, the proinflammatory S100A9, and the T cell attracting CCL-18. Genes down-regulated were mainly associated with biological regulation. We also observed that eschars from severe cases of MSF displayed a specific signature with notably difference in degree of modulation compared to eschars from non severe MSF cases. Some parameters identified in this work should be tested as biomarkers for prognostic assessment in future studies. To evaluate the host response by comparing transcriptional profiles of eschars to controls
Project description:We knocked down the Mediterranean fever (MEFV) gene by RNA interference (siRNA) in human myelomonocytic cells that express endogenous pyrin, aiming to identify microRNAs (miRNAs) that are differentially expressed in siMEFV treated cells. The purpose of this study was to better understand the pathophysiology of FMF, through the identification of novel miRNAs involved in the regulation of MEFV.
Project description:The host response within the eschar of inoculation during Mediterranean spotted fever (MSF) has been poorly studied. Our objective was to evaluate the host response by comparing transcriptional profiles of eschars to controls using a whole-genome microarray. Hierarchical clustering revealed a signature of eschars consisting of 698 genes. The genes included in this signature were mainly up-regulated and were predominantly associated with immune response and signalling. New molecules involved notably in microbicidal and innate immunity response have also been found up-regulated in eschars such as MMP1, Defensin β4, the proinflammatory S100A9, and the T cell attracting CCL-18. Genes down-regulated were mainly associated with biological regulation. We also observed that eschars from severe cases of MSF displayed a specific signature with notably difference in degree of modulation compared to eschars from non severe MSF cases. Some parameters identified in this work should be tested as biomarkers for prognostic assessment in future studies.
Project description:Diet can regulate gene and microRNA (miRNA) expression and various biological processes in the gut. Dietary interventions have been proposed as therapeutic approaches for several diseases, including cancer. In a pilot study, we showed that a low-inflammatory Mediterranean diet reduced markers of local and systemic inflammation in 27 patients with Familial Adenomatous Polyposis (FAP). We evaluated the changes induced by a low-inflammatory Mediterranean dietary intervention on fecal miRNome and intestinal tissue transcriptome in FAP subjects and assessed whether these changes could be associated with the beneficial effects observed in the pilot study. The diet modulated 41 fecal miRNAs, and this modulation remained for three months after the intervention. miR-5092-5p, miR-4527, and miR-3612-3p were positively correlated with adherence to the Mediterranean diet, while miR-6867-5p and miR-760-5p were negatively correlated with serum calprotectin levels. The altered miRNAs target genes mainly related to inflammatory pathways, DNA repair, metabolism, and cytoskeleton organization. Seventy genes were differentially expressed between adenoma and normal tissue. Most were different before the dietary intervention, but reached similar levels after the diet. Functional enrichment analysis identified the proinflammatory ERK1/2, cell cycle regulation and nutrient response pathways as commonly regulated by differentially expressed miRNAs and genes. These findings suggest that fecal miRNAs modulated by the diet reflect an epigenetic regulation occurring in tissues that seems to influence inflammatory pathways. miRNAs and genes with oncogenic and tumor suppressor functions are also regulated, highlighting the potential cancer-preventive effect of the low-inflammatory Mediterranean diet.