MicroRNA expression profiling in the adult offspring of rats with periodontal disease

The present study investigated whether maternal periodontal disease modifies the microRNA expression profile in adult offspring. *************************************************************** This study was supported by the São Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP) [grant #2019/04183-9; #2022/08872-6; #2023/03786-7; #2023/12488-0; #2023/01400-4] and CNPq [grant 151151/2023-7], São Paulo, SP, Brazil. The grants #2019/04183-9; #2023/12488-0; #2023/01400-4 and 151151/2023-7 were awarded to the author Maria Sara de Lima Coutinho Mattera. The grant #2022/08872-6 was awarded to Heloisa Macedo Sampaio. The grant #2023/03786-7 was awarded to Gabriele Fernandes Baliero. *************************************************************** Sixteen Wistar rats, weighing approximately 200 g and 3 months old, were submitted to the Ethics Committee at São Paulo State University (Unesp) for a study on experimental periodontal disease, approved under protocol no. 00407-2019. The rats were divided into two groups: CN, control (n = 8), and PED, with periodontal disease induced by ligature on the mandibular molars. After one week, they were mated with healthy males and housed individually after confirming pregnancy. Only male pups were kept for further analyses (n=4). At 75 days of age, the pups were anesthetized for blood and tissue collection. RNA was extracted using the miRVana™ miRNA Isolation Kit, and quality was assessed before microtranscriptome analysis using the Affymetrix® microarray. Validation of selected miRNAs was performed by real-time PCR using specific primers.