We compared initial screening transferrin saturation (TfSat) and serum ferritin (SF) phenotypes and HFE C282Y and H63D genotypes of 645 Native American and 43,453 white Hemochromatosis and Iron Overload Screening Study participants who did not report a previous diagnosis of hemochromatosis or iron overload. Elevated measurements were defined as TfSat >50% in men and >45% in women and SF >300 ng/ml in men and >200 ng/ml in women. Mean TfSat was 31% in Native American men and 32% in white men (p = 0.0337) and 25% in Native American women and 27% in white women (p < 0.0001). Mean SF was 153 µg/l in Native American and 151 µg/l in white men (p = 0.8256); mean SF was 55 µg/l in Native American women and 63 µg/l in white women (p = 0.0015). The C282Y allele frequency was 0.0340 in Native Americans and 0.0683 in whites (p < 0.0001). The H63D allele frequency was 0.1150 in Native Americans and 0.1532 in whites (p = 0.0001). We conclude that the screening TfSat and SF phenotypes of Native Americans are similar to those of whites. The allele frequencies of HFE C282Y and H63D are significantly lower in Native Americans than in whites.

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Aim: MicroRNAs (miRs) are involved in regulation of gene expression and may play a role in development of hypertension.Methods: Three months old C57BL/6J mice were treated angiotensin II (AngII, 490ng/kg/min) or control buffer using miniosmotic pumps for 2 weeks. Isolated RNA from aorta and perivascular adipose tissue (PVAT) was reverse transcribed using Megaplex primer pools and profiled with TaqMAn Rodent microRNA Array. Statistical tests were performed on normalized CT values in R (HTqPCR package) or DataAssist. Results: From 381 studied miRs 103 was differentially expressed in aortas and 134 in PVAT (Ct<32). Both principal components and hierarchical clustering analyses using all expressed miRs in aorta and PVAT separated hypertensive from control animals. In aortas, there were 29 and 24 differentially expressed miRs, at FDR adjusted p<0.05, between treatment groups, while using global mean or quantile normalization method respectively with 19 microRNAs overlapping. Out of these 7 miRs were overexpressed in aortas of hypertensive mice as compared to controls. Only mir-21 and mir-142-3p were significantly expressed after Bonferroni correction (3.5-fold induction) in hypertensive animals. Similar analysis identified 16 differently expressed miRs in PVAT between groups. Mir-214 was the only miR significantly overexpressed (8-fold induction) in hypertensive animals after Bonferroni correction. Effects of mir-21 and mir-214 on vascular function will be addressed in respective knockout models. Conclusions: AngII infusion changes miR profiles in murine aortas and PVAT. Mir-21 is the most upregulated in aortas whereas mir-214 is the most upregulated miR in PVAT, which can affect development of vascular dysfunction.

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