Microbiota Modulates Cardiac Transcriptional Responses to Intermittent Hypoxia and Hypercapnia

Accumulating evidence has demonstrated that the microbiota plays a critical role in regulating organismal health and response to environmental stresses. Intermittent hypoxia/hypercapnia (IHH), an experimental condition that represents the main hallmark of obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) in humans, is known to induce significant alterations in the gut microbiome and metabolism, enhance atherogenesis and progression in atherosclerosis mouse models. To further understand the role of microbiome in the cardiovascular response to IHH, we performed long-reading paired-end RNA-seq and utilized multiple bioinformatic approaches to analyze the transcriptional alterations following IHH treatment in the left ventricle (LV) of conventionally reared (CONV) and germ-free (GF) C57BL/6 mice. We detected significant and distinct differences in transcriptional responses between CONV and GF mice, demonstrating that the microbiome plays an important role in regulating IHH response in heart.