Genetic analyses of lumbosacral transitional vertebra and hip dysplasia in nine dog breeds in Norway.

Background: A lumbosacral transitional vertebra (LTV) is a congenital anomaly with reported prevalences ranging from 0 to 67% in different dog breeds, implying possible genetic differences. LTV has been associated with canine hip dysplasia (CHD) and degenerative lumbosacral stenosis (DLSS). Genetic parameters, including heritability estimates, are important for understanding the genetic influence on specific traits and for evaluating the effectiveness of possible genetic selection in reducing the prevalence of disorders.

Visceral and subcutaneous adipose tissue in children born after ART with frozen and fresh embryo transfers.

Study Question: Is the ratio of visceral adipose tissue (VAT) and subcutaneous adipose tissue (SAT) comparable between children following ART and natural conception (NC)?

Summary Answer: Children conceived by frozen embryo transfer (FET) had slightly lower VAT/SAT ratios than children following NC; no difference in VAT/SAT ratio was observed in children born following fresh embryo transfer (Fresh-ET) as compared to those born from NC.

What Is Known Already: The VAT/SAT ratio is closely related to the metabolic profile, with a high ratio increasing the risk of cardiometabolic diseases. To our knowledge, no studies have reported the VAT/SAT ratio in children following ART.

Image navigator-based, automated coronary magnetic resonance angiography for the detection of coronary artery stenosis.

Background: Coronary computed tomography angiography (CCTA) is recommended as the first-line diagnostic imaging modality in low-to-intermediate-risk individuals suspected of stable coronary artery disease (CAD). However, CCTA exposes patients to ionizing radiation and potentially nephrotoxic contrast agents. Invasive coronary angiography is the gold-standard investigation to guide coronary revascularisation strategy; however, invasive procedures incur an inherent risk to the patient.

Blood pressure and lipid profiles in children born after ART with frozen embryo transfer.

Study Question: Are blood pressure (BP) and lipid profiles different between children conceived after ART with frozen embryo transfer (FET), fresh embryo transfer (fresh-ET), and natural conception (NC)?

Summary Answer: Girls conceived after FET had significantly higher systolic BP and heart rate compared with girls born after fresh-ET; boys conceived after FET had a slightly more favourable lipid profile compared with boys born after fresh-ET and NC.

What Is Known Already: Children conceived after ART with FET are more often born large for gestational age (LGA). LGA in general increases the risk of obesity, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease later in life.

Early signs of myocardial systolic dysfunction in patients with type 2 diabetes are strongly associated with myocardial microvascular dysfunction independent of myocardial fibrosis: a prospective cohort study.

Background: Patients with diabetes demonstrate early left ventricular systolic dysfunction. Notably reduced global longitudinal strain (GLS) is related to poor outcomes, the underlying pathophysiology is however still not clearly understood. We hypothesized that pathophysiologic changes with microvascular dysfunction and interstitial fibrosis contribute to reduced strain.

The role of empagliflozin-induced metabolic changes for cardiac function in patients with type 2 diabetes. A randomized cross-over magnetic resonance imaging study with insulin as comparator.

Background: Metabolic effects of empagliflozin treatment include lowered glucose and insulin concentrations, elevated free fatty acids and ketone bodies and have been suggested to contribute to the cardiovascular benefits of empagliflozin treatment, possibly through an improved cardiac function. We aimed to evaluate the influence of these metabolic changes on cardiac function in patients with T2D.

Methods: In a randomized cross-over design, the SGLT2 inhibitor empagliflozin (E) was compared with insulin (I) treatment titrated to the same level of glycemic control in 17 patients with type 2 diabetes, BMI of > 28 kg/m, C-peptide > 500 pM.

Organized thrombus is a frequent underlying feature in culprit lesion morphology in non-ST-elevation myocardial infarction. A study using optical coherence tomography and magnetic resonance imaging.

The concept that the culprit lesion in non-ST segment elevation myocardial infarction (NSTEMI) is caused by sudden plaque rupture with acute thrombus formation has recently been challenged. While angiography is an old gold-standard for culprit identification it merely visualizes the lumen contour. Optical coherence tomography (OCT) provides a detailed view of culprit features.

Cardiovascular autonomic nervous function in children conceived by assisted reproductive technology with frozen or fresh embryo transfer.

As a result of epigenetic changes, children conceived by assisted reproduction may be at risk of premature cardiovascular aging with notably increased blood pressures. Their cardiovascular autonomic nervous function is unknown. Therefore, this study investigated the cardiovascular autonomic nervous function in 8-12-yr-old children (51% girls) conceived naturally ( = 33) or by assisted reproduction with frozen ( = 34) or fresh ( = 38) embryo transfer by evaluating heart rate variability, during rest; from provocation maneuvers; and from baroreflex function.

Estimation and consequences of direct-maternal genetic and environmental covariances in models for genetic evaluation in broilers.

Background: Maternal effects influence juvenile traits such as body weight and early growth in broilers. Ignoring significant maternal effects leads to reduced accuracy and inflated predicted breeding values. Including genetic and environmental direct-maternal covariances into prediction models in broilers can increase the accuracy and limit inflation of predicted breeding values better than simply adding maternal effects to the model.

Myocardial Blood Flow Determination From Contrast-Free Magnetic Resonance Imaging Quantification of Coronary Sinus Flow.

Background: Determination of myocardial blood flow (MBF) with MRI is usually performed with dynamic contrast enhanced imaging (MBF ). MBF can also be determined from coronary sinus blood flow (MBF ), which has the advantage of being a noncontrast technique. However, comparative studies of MBF and MBF in large cohorts are lacking.

Childhood BMI after ART with frozen embryo transfer.

Study Question: Does BMI at 7-10 years of age differ in children conceived after frozen embryo transfer (FET) compared to children conceived after fresh embryo transfer (fresh-ET) or natural conception (NC)?

Summary Answer: BMI in childhood does not differ between children conceived after FET compared to children conceived after fresh-ET or NC.

What Is Known Already: High childhood BMI is strongly associated with obesity and cardiometabolic disease and mortality in adulthood. Children conceived after FET have a higher risk of being born large for gestational age (LGA) than children conceived after NC.

The independent association of myocardial extracellular volume and myocardial blood flow with cardiac diastolic function in patients with type 2 diabetes: a prospective cross-sectional cohort study.

Background: Diffuse myocardial fibrosis and microvascular dysfunction are suggested to underlie cardiac dysfunction in patients with type 2 diabetes, but studies investigating their relative impact are lacking. We aimed to study imaging biomarkers of these and hypothesized that fibrosis and microvascular dysfunction would affect different phases of left ventricular (LV) diastole.

Methods: In this cross-sectional study myocardial blood flow (MBF) at rest and adenosine-stress and perfusion reserve (MPR), as well as extracellular volume fraction (ECV), were determined with cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR) imaging in 205 patients with type 2 diabetes and 25 controls.

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Overweight and diabetes (DM) result in premature cardiovascular disease. Even if unaccompanied by ischaemic heart disease, DM stiffens the circulation, which may result in heart failure with preserved ejection fraction. Magnetic resonance imaging studies have documented cardiac hypertrophy, myocardial vascular rarefaction, and myocardial fibrosis in patients with type 2 DM.

Myocardial Extracellular Volume Expansion in Type 2 Diabetes Is Associated With Ischemic Heart Disease, Autonomic Neuropathy, and Active Smoking.

Objective: Myocardial interstitial fibrosis expands the extracellular volume (ECV) and in patients with type 2 diabetes is implicated in development of heart failure. ECV can be determined with gadolinium contrast MRI. We investigated which known risk factors for cardiovascular disease were associated with increased ECV in patients with type 2 diabetes.

Atherosclerosis Burdens in Diabetes Mellitus: Assessment by PET Imaging.

Arteriosclerosis and its sequelae are the most common cause of death in diabetic patients and one of the reasons why diabetes has entered the top 10 causes of death worldwide, fatalities having doubled since 2000. The literature in the field claims almost unanimously that arteriosclerosis is more frequent or develops more rapidly in diabetic than non-diabetic subjects, and that the disease is caused by arterial inflammation, the control of which should therefore be the goal of therapeutic efforts. These views are mostly based on indirect methodologies, including studies of artery wall thickness or stiffness, or on conventional CT-based imaging used to demonstrate tissue changes occurring late in the disease process.

Investigating the roles of hyperglycaemia, hyperinsulinaemia and elevated free fatty acids in cardiac function in patients with type 2 diabetes via treatment with insulin compared with empagliflozin: protocol for the HyperCarD2 randomised, crossover trial.

Introduction: Type 2 diabetes (T2D) is characterised by elevated plasma glucose, free fatty acid (FFA) and insulin concentrations, and this metabolic profile is linked to diabetic cardiomyopathy, a diastolic dysfunction at first and increased cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk. Shifting cardiac metabolism towards glucose utilisation has been suggested to improve cardiovascular function and CVD risk, but insulin treatment increases overall glucose oxidation and lowers lipid oxidation, without reducing CVD risk, whereas SGLT2 inhibitors (SGLT2i) increase FFA, ketone body concentrations and lipid oxidation, while decreasing insulin concentrations and CVD risk. The aim of the present study is to elucidate the importance of different metabolic profiles obtained during treatment with a SGLT2i versus insulin for myocardial function in patients with T2D.

Aortic distensibility is equal in prepubertal girls and boys and increases with puberty in girls.

Windkessel function is governed by conductance artery compliance that is associated with cardiovascular disease in adults independently of other risk factors. Sex-related differences in conductance artery compliance partly explain the sex-related differences in risk of cardiovascular disease. Studies on sex-related differences in conductance artery function in prepubertal children are few and inconclusive.

Heritability of distichiasis in Havanese dogs in Norway.

Background: Distichiasis is a presumed inherited eyelid disease, characterized by misplaced eyelashes. The effect on eye health and animal welfare varies between individuals; most mild cases show no clinical signs, but some affected animals develop painful corneal disease. In this study, we investigated the prevalence and heritability of distichiasis in the Norwegian population of Havanese dogs.

Genotype by climate zone interactions for fertility, somatic cell score, and production in Iranian Holsteins.

The objective of this study was to investigate genetic variation and genotype by environment (G × E) interactions for fertility (including age at first calving and calving interval), somatic cell score (SCS), and milk production traits for Iranian Holsteins. Different environments were defined based on the climatic zones (cold, semi-cold, and moderate) and considering the herd location. Data were collected between 2003 and 2018 by the National Animal Breeding Center of Iran (Karaj).

Left Ventricular Diastolic Function Studied with Magnetic Resonance Imaging: A Systematic Review of Techniques and Relation to Established Measures of Diastolic Function.

In recent years, cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) has been used to assess LV diastolic function. In this systematic review, studies were identified where CMR parameters had been evaluated in healthy and/or patient groups with proven diastolic dysfunction or known to develop heart failure with preserved ejection fraction. We aimed at describing the parameters most often used, thresholds where possible, and correlation to echocardiographic and invasive measurements.

Conductance artery stiffness impairs atrio-ventriculo-arterial coupling before manifestation of arterial hypertension or left ventricular hypertrophic remodelling.

As part of normal ageing, conductance arteries lose their cushion function, left ventricle (LV) filling and also left atrial emptying are impaired. The relation between conductance artery stiffness and LV diastolic function is normally explained by arterial hypertension and LV hypertrophy as needed intermediaries. We examined whether age-related aortic stiffening may influence LV diastolic function in normal healthy subjects.

Metabolic improvement with short-term, glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonist treatment does not improve cardiac diastolic dysfunction in patients with type 2 diabetes: A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial.

Aim: To investigate if short-term treatment with liraglutide, a glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonist, improves left ventricular diastolic function.

Materials And Methods: An investigator-initiated, double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled trial on the effect of 18 weeks of treatment with liraglutide on diastolic function was assessed in patients with type 2 diabetes with signs of diastolic dysfunction (echo-Doppler determined E/e' ≥ 9 and/or lateral e' ≤ 10 cm/s). Primary outcomes were improved left ventricle filling (the early peak filling rate [ePFR]) and left atrium ease of emptying (the passive emptying fraction [LA ]), assessed by cardiac magnetic resonance imaging at rest and during chronotropic stress.

Genetic parameters and genomic prediction for feed intake recorded at the group and individual level in different production systems for growing pigs.

Background: In breeding programs, recording large-scale feed intake (FI) data routinely at the individual level is costly and difficult compared with other production traits. An alternative approach could be to record FI at the group level since animals such as pigs are normally housed in groups and fed by a shared feeder. However, to date there have been few investigations about the difference between group- and individual-level FI recorded in different environments.

Accounting for genetic architecture for body weight improves accuracy of predicting breeding values in a commercial line of broilers.

BLUP (best linear unbiased prediction) is the standard for predicting breeding values, where different assumptions can be made on variance-covariance structure, which may influence predictive ability. Herein, we compare accuracy of prediction of four derived-BLUP models: (a) a pedigree relationship matrix (PBLUP), (b) a genomic relationship matrix (GBLUP), (c) a weighted genomic relationship matrix (WGBLUP) and (d) a relationship matrix based on genomic features that consisted of only a subset of SNP selected on a priori information (GFBLUP). We phenotyped a commercial population of broilers for body weight (BW) in five successive weeks and genotyped them using a 50k SNP array.