Subject collection: Rat as a Disease Model
- Conserved properties of genetic architecture of renal and fat transcriptomes in rat models of insulin resistance
Summary: Kidney and fat expression QTL mapping in rat models of spontaneously occurring insulin resistance associated with either diabetes or hypertension reveals conserved gene expression regulation, suggesting shared aetiology of disease phenotypes.
- Increased levels of synaptic proteins involved in synaptic plasticity after chronic intraocular pressure elevation and modulation by brain-derived neurotrophic factor in a glaucoma animal model
Summary: Application of BDNF increased the expression of synaptic vesicle proteins in the inner retina via the p-Akt, CaMKII and CREB pathways, increasing F-actin in RGC dendrites.
- Effects of subthalamic deep brain stimulation on striatal metabolic connectivity in a rat hemiparkinsonian model
Summary: Deep brain stimulation in the subthalamic nucleus in rats with a unilateral dopaminergic lesion established a new functional interhemispheric striatal network.
- Beneficial effects of exercise on gut microbiota functionality and barrier integrity, and gut-liver crosstalk in an in vivo model of early obesity and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease
Summary: The beneficial effects of exercise against diet-induced early obesity and NAFLD are mediated by its capacity to modulate intestinal microbiota composition and functionality, restore lipid metabolism and prevent disruption of the gut-liver axis.
- Role of ectodysplasin signalling in middle ear and nasal pathology in rat and mouse models of hypohidrotic ectodermal dysplasia
Summary: The Edaraddswh/swh rat has comparable ear, nose and throat (ENT) pathology to humans with hypohidrotic ectodermal dysplasia, and prenatal correction of EDAR signalling in EdaTa mice prevents ENT disease.
- Semiology, clustering, periodicity and natural history of seizures in an experimental occipital cortical epilepsy model
Summary: Tetanus-toxin-induced occipital cortical epilepsy is a rodent model of acquired focal neocortical epilepsy well-suited for preclinical evaluation of novel anti-epileptic strategies.
- A novel mutation in the NADH dehydrogenase (ubiquinone) 1 alpha subcomplex 4 (Ndufa4) gene links mitochondrial dysfunction to the development of diabetes in a rodent model
Summary: Here, we report, for the first time, a major inherited mutation in a diabetes-prone animal model that adversely affects mitochondrial function and leads, through oxidative stress, to the development of diet-induced diabetes.
- Dissecting recipient from donor contribution in experimental kidney transplantation: focus on endothelial proliferation and inflammation
Summary: Using experimental kidney transplantation, we dissected donor graft from recipient environment effects, focusing on the endothelium and inflammation. These results can direct strategies to improve graft survival after suboptimal transplantation.
- The role of the microRNA-146a/complement factor H/interleukin-1β-mediated inflammatory loop circuit in the perpetuate inflammation of chronic temporal lobe epilepsy
Summary: The microRNA-146a–complement factor H–interleukin-1β loop circuit might initiate a cascade of inflammation, leading to the perpetuate inflammation in temporal lobe epilepsy.
- Vitamin D deficiency in the ApcPirc/+ rat does not exacerbate colonic tumorigenesis, while low dietary calcium might be protective
Summary: Using rat models of familial and inflammation-induced colon cancer, this study demonstrates that vitamin D deficiency does not increase risk of developing disease, and that low dietary calcium might be protective.