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Benedetto A, Šťastný K, Giaccio N, Marturella M, Biasibetti E, Arigoni M, Calogero R, Gili M, Pezzolato M, Tošnerová K, Hodkovicová N, Faldyna M, Puleio R, Bozzo G, Bozzetta E. RNAseq Analysis of Livers from Pigs Treated with Testosterone and Nandrolone Esters: Selection and Field Validation of Transcriptional Biomarkers. Animals (Basel) 2023; 13:3495. [PMID: 38003113 PMCID: PMC10668810 DOI: 10.3390/ani13223495] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/25/2023] [Revised: 11/06/2023] [Accepted: 11/07/2023] [Indexed: 11/26/2023] Open
Abstract
The use of anabolic-androgenic steroids (AASs) as growth promoters in farm animals is banned in the European Union, representing both an illicit practice and a risk for consumer health. However, these compounds are still illegally administered, often in the form of synthetic esters. This work aimed to characterize significant coding RNA perturbations related to the illicit administration of testosterone and nandrolone esters in fattening pigs. A total of 27 clinically healthy 90-day-old pigs were randomly assigned to test and control groups. Nine animals were treated with testosterone esters (Sustanon®) and other nine with nandrolone esters (Myodine®). At the end of the trial, liver samples were collected and analyzed using RNAseq, allowing the identification of 491 differentially expressed genes (DEGs). The transcriptional signature was further characterized by a smaller sub-cluster of 143 DEGs, from which a selection of 16 genes was made. The qPCR analysis confirmed that the identified cluster could still give good discrimination between untreated gilt and barrows compared to the relative testosterone-treated counterparts. A conclusive field survey on 67 liver samples collected from pigs of different breeds and weight categories confirmed, in agreement with testosterone residue profiles, the specificity of selected transcriptional biomarkers, showing their potential applications for screening purposes when AAS treatment is suspected, allowing to focus further investigations of competent authorities and confirmatory analysis where needed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alessandro Benedetto
- Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale del Piemonte, Liguria e Valle d’Aosta, 10154 Turin, Italy; (N.G.); (M.M.); (E.B.); (M.G.); (M.P.); (E.B.)
| | - Kamil Šťastný
- Department of Infectious Diseases and Preventive Medicine, Veterinary Research Institute, 621 00 Brno, Czech Republic; (K.Š.); (K.T.); (N.H.); (M.F.)
| | - Nunzia Giaccio
- Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale del Piemonte, Liguria e Valle d’Aosta, 10154 Turin, Italy; (N.G.); (M.M.); (E.B.); (M.G.); (M.P.); (E.B.)
| | - Marianna Marturella
- Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale del Piemonte, Liguria e Valle d’Aosta, 10154 Turin, Italy; (N.G.); (M.M.); (E.B.); (M.G.); (M.P.); (E.B.)
| | - Elena Biasibetti
- Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale del Piemonte, Liguria e Valle d’Aosta, 10154 Turin, Italy; (N.G.); (M.M.); (E.B.); (M.G.); (M.P.); (E.B.)
| | - Maddalena Arigoni
- Dipartimento di Biotecnologie e Scienze della Salute, Core-Lab di Bioinformatica e Genomica, Università degli Studi di Torino, 10124 Turin, Italy; (M.A.); (R.C.)
| | - Raffaele Calogero
- Dipartimento di Biotecnologie e Scienze della Salute, Core-Lab di Bioinformatica e Genomica, Università degli Studi di Torino, 10124 Turin, Italy; (M.A.); (R.C.)
| | - Marilena Gili
- Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale del Piemonte, Liguria e Valle d’Aosta, 10154 Turin, Italy; (N.G.); (M.M.); (E.B.); (M.G.); (M.P.); (E.B.)
| | - Marzia Pezzolato
- Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale del Piemonte, Liguria e Valle d’Aosta, 10154 Turin, Italy; (N.G.); (M.M.); (E.B.); (M.G.); (M.P.); (E.B.)
| | - Kristína Tošnerová
- Department of Infectious Diseases and Preventive Medicine, Veterinary Research Institute, 621 00 Brno, Czech Republic; (K.Š.); (K.T.); (N.H.); (M.F.)
| | - Nikola Hodkovicová
- Department of Infectious Diseases and Preventive Medicine, Veterinary Research Institute, 621 00 Brno, Czech Republic; (K.Š.); (K.T.); (N.H.); (M.F.)
| | - Martin Faldyna
- Department of Infectious Diseases and Preventive Medicine, Veterinary Research Institute, 621 00 Brno, Czech Republic; (K.Š.); (K.T.); (N.H.); (M.F.)
| | - Roberto Puleio
- Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale della Sicilia, 90129 Palermo, Italy;
| | - Giancarlo Bozzo
- Dipartimento di Medicina Veterinaria, Università degli Studi di Bari Aldo Moro, 70121 Bari, Italy;
| | - Elena Bozzetta
- Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale del Piemonte, Liguria e Valle d’Aosta, 10154 Turin, Italy; (N.G.); (M.M.); (E.B.); (M.G.); (M.P.); (E.B.)
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Benedetto A, Biasibetti E, Robotti E, Marengo E, Audino V, Bozzetta E, Pezzolato M. Transcriptional Biomarkers and Immunohistochemistry for Detection of Illicit Dexamethasone Administration in Veal Calves. Foods 2022; 11:foods11121810. [PMID: 35742008 PMCID: PMC9222442 DOI: 10.3390/foods11121810] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/09/2022] [Revised: 06/10/2022] [Accepted: 06/14/2022] [Indexed: 02/05/2023] Open
Abstract
Corticosteroids such as Dexamethasone (DEX) are commonly licensed for therapy in meat animals due to their known pharmacological properties. However, their misuse aimed to achieve anabolic effects is often found by National Residues Control Plans. The setup of a complementary “biomarker based” methods to unveil such illicit practices is encouraged by current European legislation. In this study, the combined use of molecular and histological quantitative techniques was applied on formalin fixed paraffin embedded (FFPE) muscle samples to assess the effects of illicit DEX treatment on veal calves. A PCR array, including 28 transcriptional biomarkers related to DEX exposure, was combined with a histochemical analysis of muscle fiber. An analysis based on unsupervised (PCA) and supervised (PLS-DA and Kohonen’s SOM) methods, was applied in order to define multivariate models able to classify animals suspected of illicit treatment by DEX. According to the conventional univariate approach, a not-significant reduction in type I fibres was recorded in the DEX-treated group, and only 12 out of 28 targeted genes maintained their expected differential expression, confirming the technical limitations of a quantitative analysis on FFPE samples. However, the multivariate models developed highlighted the possibility to establish complementary screening strategies, particularly when based on transcriptional biomarkers characterised by low expression profiles.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alessandro Benedetto
- Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale del Piemonte, Liguria e Valle d’Aosta, Via Bologna 148, 10154 Torino, Italy; (A.B.); (V.A.); (E.B.); (M.P.)
| | - Elena Biasibetti
- Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale del Piemonte, Liguria e Valle d’Aosta, Via Bologna 148, 10154 Torino, Italy; (A.B.); (V.A.); (E.B.); (M.P.)
- Correspondence: (E.B.); (E.R.); Tel.: +39-0112686254 (E.B.); +39-1031360272 (E.R.)
| | - Elisa Robotti
- Department of Sciences and Technological Innovation, University of Piemonte Orientale, Viale Michel 11, 15121 Alessandria, Italy;
- Correspondence: (E.B.); (E.R.); Tel.: +39-0112686254 (E.B.); +39-1031360272 (E.R.)
| | - Emilio Marengo
- Department of Sciences and Technological Innovation, University of Piemonte Orientale, Viale Michel 11, 15121 Alessandria, Italy;
| | - Valentina Audino
- Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale del Piemonte, Liguria e Valle d’Aosta, Via Bologna 148, 10154 Torino, Italy; (A.B.); (V.A.); (E.B.); (M.P.)
| | - Elena Bozzetta
- Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale del Piemonte, Liguria e Valle d’Aosta, Via Bologna 148, 10154 Torino, Italy; (A.B.); (V.A.); (E.B.); (M.P.)
| | - Marzia Pezzolato
- Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale del Piemonte, Liguria e Valle d’Aosta, Via Bologna 148, 10154 Torino, Italy; (A.B.); (V.A.); (E.B.); (M.P.)
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