Identification of differentially expressed transcripts and pathways one week and six months following implant of left ventricular devices

A specific set of genes involved in regulating cellular immune response, antigen presentation, and T cell activation and survival were down-regulated 7 days after LVAD placement. 6 months following LVAD placement, the expression levels of these genes were significantly increased; yet importantly, remained significantly lower than age and sex-matched samples from healthy controls. Overall design: Examination of the effect of LVAD implant on peripheral blood transcriptome. Blood was drawn before LVAD placement, 7 days post implant, and 180 days post implant. RNA sequencing was performaed on all samples.