Identification of gene expression biomarkers to detect illicit use of steroid growth stimulators in slaughterhouses

Consideration of the residual growth hormones in the carcass of slaughtered animals in the slaughterhouse is necessary as a potential risk to the health of the community. The present study aimed at identifying biomarkers to detect the illegal use of growth stimulating hormones in slaughter houses. For this purpose, the differential expression analysis of the genes in a gene expression profile in the Arrayexpress database with the accession number E-GEOD-12179 was initially comprised of a comparison of the muscle tissue of the beef cattle receiving the growth stimulating hormone with beef cattle muscle, which did not receive any growth stimulating hormones. Among genes with different expression, target genes were identified by analyzing the statistical parameters of the network. The identified genes were MAPK1, EDN1, TGFB1, BMP4, and PPARA. Then the pathway analysis of the gene, generating and analyzing the expression network of genes based on target genes were performed using Pathvisio, Cytoscape and Pathway studio software. Analysis of pathways showed that beta-cell growth factor, growth factor receptor, and gonadotropin hormone release were significant. Also, the results of this analysis showed that these genes play a role in the regulation of cellular cell proliferation, differentiation, development, and process of muscle hypertrophy. Therefore, these genes have the potential for introduction as biomarkers of gene expression in relation to the detection of the use of growth promoters and provide new markers for detecting illegal use of growth stimulating hormones in slaughterhouses.