RNA-sequencing of the left ventricle of METH-intoxicated rats

Male rats received daily injections of saline or methamphetamine (10 mg/kg, at 12 h intervals) for 2 weeks and for 4 weeks. Changes in gene expression were assessed by RNA sequencing either 6 hours following the last injection. Methamphetamine induced changes in the whole transcriptome were significantly greater in the left ventricle of the hearts than that in the normal rat both in terms of the number of genes affected and the magnitude of the changes. The largest changes in the hearts involved genes that regulate the circadian clock (Dbp, Per3, Per2, Arntl, and Npas2). These data demonstrate that methamphetamine has great effect on the expression of circadian rhythm-related genes, and the expression of different kind of RNAs. Overall design: Gene expression profiling of the left ventricle tissue of rats following treatment with methamphetamine or saline.