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Alma universitas studiorum parmensis A.D. 962 - Università di Parma
Università degli Studi di Parma

PREDICTive Cardio-metabolic transcriptOMIC trajectorieS in the Barilla Offspring Follow-up STUDY: The PREDICT-OMICS Study

Finanziato dall'Unione europea - NextGenerationEU
Ministero dell'Università e della Ricerca
Italia Domani - Piano Nazionale di Ripresa e Resilienza
Prin 2022
Dipartimento di Medicina e Chirurgia
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Details

ERC sector
LS4 - Physiology in Health, Disease and Ageing
ERC subsector
LS4_9 - Metabolism and metabolic disorders, including diabetes and obesity
Project start date
CUP
D53D23014340006
Financial support received
€127.904,00

Description and purpose

PREDICT-OMICS is an experimental, longitudinal, non-pharmacological study involving a cohort of healthy adult subjects (n=148) who previously participated in the Barilla Offspring Study (2006–2007, T0). At an 18-year follow-up (T1), the project aims to investigate the evolution of transcriptomic signatures of peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) and monocytes, in order to identify their predictive or associative role with changes in glucose tolerance and/or the development of carotid atherogenic phenotypes.

 

Purpose

1) to identify transcriptomic signatures of PBMCs at T0 predictive of altered metabolic phenotypes (e.g., impaired fasting glucose, impaired glucose tolerance, type 2 diabetes mellitus) and/or vascular phenotypes (e.g., carotid plaques) at T1. 2) to identify cross-sectional transcriptomic signatures of PBMCs and monocytes at T1 associated with altered metabolic and/or vascular phenotypes, with modifications of the inflammatory profile, and with lifestyle changes.

Expected results

1) Identification of a set of candidate genes directly correlated with the development of altered metabolic phenotypes, such as elevated fasting glucose, 2-hour glucose after oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT), HbA1c, insulin resistance/sensitivity, and pancreatic β-cell function. 2) Selection of a set of candidate genes directly correlated with the development of altered vascular phenotypes.

Achieved results

To date, 101 participants have been enrolled, of whom 52.5% are men, with a mean age of 54 ± 7 years and a mean BMI of 25.5 ± 4.4 kg/m². Overall, 41.5% of the subjects are overweight and 11.9% are obese, while 19.8% are current smokers and 18.8% are former smokers. All participants underwent an OGTT and carotid ultrasound for the assessment of carotid intima-media thickness. RNA was extracted from PBMCs and monocytes of each volunteer and is currently undergoing RNA sequencing for transcriptomic analyses.

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