Precision or personalized medicine through clinical genome and exome sequencing has been described by some as a revolution that could transform healthcare delivery, yet it is currently used in only a small fraction of patients, principally for the diagnosis of suspected Mendelian conditions and for targeting cancer treatments. Given the burden of illness in our society, it is of interest to ask how clinical genome and exome sequencing can be constructively integrated more broadly into the routine practice of medicine for the betterment of public health. In November 2014, 46 experts from academia, industry, policy and patient advocacy gathered in a conference sponsored by Illumina, Inc. to discuss this question, share viewpoints and propose recommendations. This perspective summarizes that work and identifies some of the obstacles and opportunities that must be considered in translating advances in genomics more widely into the practice of medicine.
Ischemia-reperfusion generates peroxynitrite (ONOO-), which interacts with many of the systems altered by ischemia-reperfusion. This study examines the influence of endogenously produced ONOO- on cardiac metabolism and function. Nitro-L-arginine (an inhibitor of ONOO- biosynthesis) and urate (a scavenger of ONOO-) were utilized to investigate potential pathophysiological roles for ONOO- in a rat Langendorff heart model perfused with glucose-containing saline at constant pressure and exposed to 30 min of ischemia followed by 60 min of reperfusion. In this model, ischemia-reperfusion decreased contractile function (e.g., left ventricular developed pressure), cardiac work (rate-pressure product), efficiency of O2 utilization, membrane-bound creatine kinase activity, and NMR-detectable ATP and creatine phosphate without significantly altering the recovery of coronary flow, heart rate, lactate release, and muscle pH. Treatment with urate and nitro-L-arginine produced a substantial recovery of left ventricular developed pressure, rate-pressure product, efficiency of O2 utilization, creatine kinase activity, and NMR-detectable creatine phosphate and a partial recovery of ATP. The pattern of effects observed in this study and in previously published work with similar models suggests that ONOO- may alter key steps in the efficiency of mitochondrial high-energy phosphate generation.
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