Metabolomics studies hold promise for the discovery of pathways linked to disease processes. Cardiovascular disease (CVD) represents the leading cause of death and morbidity worldwide. Here we used a metabolomics approach to generate unbiased small-molecule metabolic profiles in plasma that predict risk for CVD. Three metabolites of the dietary lipid phosphatidylcholine--choline, trimethylamine N-oxide (TMAO) and betaine--were identified and then shown to predict risk for CVD in an independent large clinical cohort. Dietary supplementation of mice with choline, TMAO or betaine promoted upregulation of multiple macrophage scavenger receptors linked to atherosclerosis, and supplementation with choline or TMAO promoted atherosclerosis. Studies using germ-free mice confirmed a critical role for dietary choline and gut flora in TMAO production, augmented macrophage cholesterol accumulation and foam cell formation. Suppression of intestinal microflora in atherosclerosis-prone mice inhibited dietary-choline-enhanced atherosclerosis. Genetic variations controlling expression of flavin monooxygenases, an enzymatic source of TMAO, segregated with atherosclerosis in hyperlipidaemic mice. Discovery of a relationship between gut-flora-dependent metabolism of dietary phosphatidylcholine and CVD pathogenesis provides opportunities for the development of new diagnostic tests and therapeutic approaches for atherosclerotic heart disease.
Pubmed ID: 21475195 RIS Download
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Software environment and programming language for statistical computing and graphics. R is integrated suite of software facilities for data manipulation, calculation and graphical display. Can be extended via packages. Some packages are supplied with the R distribution and more are available through CRAN family.It compiles and runs on wide variety of UNIX platforms, Windows and MacOS.
View all literature mentionsSoftware that characterizes coexisting subpopulations (SPs) in a tumor using copy number and allele frequencies derived from exome- or whole genome sequencing input data. The model amplifies the statistical power to detect coexisting genotypes, by fully exploiting run-specific tradeoffs between depth of coverage and breadth of coverage. ExPANdS predicts the number of clonal expansions, the size of the resulting SPs in the tumor bulk, the mutations specific to each SP and tumor purity. The main function runExPANdS provides the complete functionality needed to predict coexisting SPs from single nucleotide variations (SNVs) and associated copy numbers. The robustness of the subpopulation predictions by ExPANdS increases with the number of mutations provided. It is recommended that at least 200 mutations are used as an input to obtain stable results.
View all literature mentionsTHIS RESOURCE IS NO LONGER IN SERVICE. Documented on July 18,2023. Software package to capture, process, measure, analyze and share images and data.
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