Gene expression differences in the brachial and femoral arteries of Rapacz Familial Hypercholesterloemic swine at birth are related to atherosusceptibility

Abstract

The mechanisms underlying the greater prevalence of atherosclerosis in the femoral compared to brachial arteries of both humans and quadrupeds are still unclear. We hypothesized that brachial and femoral differences in genes associated with atherosclerosis occur during vascular development. To test this hypothesis five femoral and brachial arteries were harvested from one week old Rapacz swine. The presence of atherosclerosis was quantified through histological staining (SudanIV, VVG, H/E). Total RNA was isolated for microarray analysis using a Macherey‐Nagel NucleoSpin RNAII kit. Gene expression was quantified by Affymetrix GeneChip Porcine Genome Arrays. Bioconductor was used to run Robust Multi‐chip Average (RMA) expression values on a paired t‐test model. No atherosclerotic disease was detected in either the brachial or femoral arteries. Of the 16526 expressed genes, RMA analysis revealed that 71 genes were differentially expressed to a significant level (FDR<0.05 + min. 2fold difference) in the brachial and femoral arteries. 29 transcripts had higher gene expression in the femoral arteries, while 42 were higher in the brachial arteries. In conclusion, inherent gene expression differences between the brachial and femoral arteries of swine exist at birth and may contribute to the unequal distribution of atherosclerosis between these vasculatures later in life.