1. Baron-Mendoza I, Garcia O, Calvo-Ochoa E, Rebollar-Garcia JO, Garzon-Cortes D, Haro R, Gonzalez-Arenas A. {{Alterations in neuronal cytoskeletal and astrocytic proteins content in the brain of the autistic-like mouse strain C58/J}}. {Neurosci Lett}. 2018; 682: 32-8.
Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopment disorder characterized by deficient social interaction, impaired communication as well as repetitive behaviors. ASD subjects present connectivity and neuroplasticity disturbances associated with morphological alterations in axons, dendrites, and dendritic spines. Given that the neuronal cytoskeleton and astrocytes have an essential role in regulating several mechanisms of neural plasticity, the aim of this work was to study alterations in the content of neuronal cytoskeletal components actin and tubulin and their associated proteins, as well as astrocytic proteins GFAP and TSP-1 in the brain of a C58/J mouse model of ASD. We determined the expression and regulatory phosphorylation state of cytoskeletal components in the prefrontal cortex, hippocampus, and cerebellum of C58/J mice by means of Western blotting. Our results show that autistic-like mice present: 1) region-dependent altered expression and phosphorylation patterns of Tau isoforms, associated with anomalous microtubule depolymerization; 2) reduced MAP2A content in prefrontal cortex; 3) region-dependent changes in cofilin expression and phosphorylation, associated with abnormal actin filament depolymerizing dynamics; 4) diminished synaptopodin levels in the hippocampus; and 5) reduced content of the astrocyte-secreted protein TSP-1 in the prefrontal cortex and hippocampus. Our work demonstrates changes in the expression and phosphorylation of cytoskeletal proteins as well as in TSP-1 in the brain of the autistic-like mice C58/J, shedding light in one of the possible molecular mechanisms underpinning neuroplasticity alterations in the ASD brain and laying the foundation for future investigations in this topic.
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2. Beverly BL, Wooster D. {{An Interprofessional Education Initiative for Allied Health Students Preparing to Serve Individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorders}}. {Journal of allied health}. 2018; 47(2): 90-5.
The need for effective services for persons with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) is driving efforts to better prepare teams of allied health professionals. To address this need, an interprofessional graduate course was piloted with students from three allied health professions: physical therapy, occupational therapy, and speech-language pathology. The course aims were to address knowledge and competency in the field of ASD and to promote interprofessional abilities during entry-level preparation. Nine graduate students participated in weekly on-line education and attended a day-long autism conference with local practitioners from seven different professions. Attitude changes toward interprofessional practice were assessed with two pre- to post-test Likert scales. Results revealed statistically significant increases in favorable ratings towards other disciplines as well as for two interprofessional competency domains, interprofessional communication and teams and teamwork. A two-part measure yielding quantitative (Likert scales) and qualitative data (open-ended written responses) revealed a significant increase in ratings from pre- to post-test for basic knowledge of ASD and increased specificity and confidence in the open-ended written responses. This course is one component of a broader initiative across campus, in the region, and statewide to better serve individuals with ASD.
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3. Bi XA, Zhao J, Xu Q, Sun Q, Wang Z. {{Abnormal Functional Connectivity of Resting State Network Detection Based on Linear ICA Analysis in Autism Spectrum Disorder}}. {Frontiers in physiology}. 2018; 9: 475.
Some functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) researches in autism spectrum disorder (ASD) patients have shown that ASD patients have significant impairment in brain response. However, few researchers have studied the functional structure changes of the eight resting state networks (RSNs) in ASD patients. Therefore, research on statistical differences of RSNs between 42 healthy controls (HC) and 50 ASD patients has been studied using linear independent component analysis (ICA) in this paper. Our researches showed that there was abnormal functional connectivity (FC) of RSNs in ASD patients. The RSNs with the decreased FC and increased FC in ASD patients included default mode network (DMN), central executive network (CEN), core network (CN), visual network (VN), self-referential network (SRN) compared to HC. The RSNs with the increased FC in ASD patients included auditory network (AN), somato-motor network (SMN). The dorsal attention network (DAN) in ASD patients showed the decreased FC. Our findings indicate that the abnormal FC in RSNs extensively exists in ASD patients. Our results have important contribution for the study of neuro-pathophysiological mechanisms in ASD patients.
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4. Brondino N, Rocchetti M, Fusar-Poli L, Damiani S, Goggi A, Chiodelli G, Corti S, Visai L, Politi P. {{Increased CNTF levels in adults with autism spectrum disorders}}. {The world journal of biological psychiatry : the official journal of the World Federation of Societies of Biological Psychiatry}. 2018: 1-13.
OBJECTIVES: Ciliary neurotrophic factor (CNTF) is a neurotrophin which could signal neuronal suffering and at the same time acts as a neuroprotective agent. In the present study we aimed to evaluate CNTF serum levels in Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD). In fact, considering the role of CNTF as a neuronal damage signal and the role of neuroinflammation, excito-inhibitory imbalance and excitotoxicity in the pathogenesis of ASD, a possible alteration of CNTF in ASD could be hypothesised. METHODS: We recruited 23 individuals with ASD and intellectual disability (ID), 20 ID subjects and 26 typical adults. A complete medical and psychopathological characterisation of the participants was performed. CNTF serum levels were measured with ELISA. RESULTS: CNTF serum levels were significantly higher in the ASD+ID group compared to ID (p < 0.001) or typically developed subjects (p < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: CNTF may be considered as a potential biomarker candidate for ASD in the context of severe ID. Our results support the hypothesis of neurotrophic imbalance in ASD. Lien vers le texte intégral (Open Access ou abonnement)
5. Byra KL, White S, Temple M, Cameron MJ. {{An Approach to Cleanliness Training to Support Bathroom Hygiene among Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder}}. {Behavior analysis in practice}. 2018; 11(2): 139-43.
The current investigation extends the findings of previous studies on the effects of simulation and correspondence training for teaching hygiene skills. Two male participants between the ages of 5 and 6 with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) were taught hygiene skills in a clinic setting. Both participants acquired the hygiene routine. Following instruction, the participants’ parents conducted probe sessions to assess generalization to the home environment. Generalization occurred for both participants. Moreover, a 6-month follow-up probe confirmed the maintenance of skills. This article provides utility to practitioners by providing a methodology for teaching hygiene after a bowel movement, demonstrating the generalization of skills from the clinic to the home, and providing a model for parent involvement.
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6. Cygan HB, Marchewka A, Kotlewska I, Nowicka A. {{Neural Correlates of Reflection on Present and Past Selves in Autism Spectrum Disorder}}. {J Autism Dev Disord}. 2018.
Previous studies indicate that autobiographical memory is impaired in individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Successful recollection of information referring to one’s own person requires the intact ability to re-activate representation of the past self. In the current fMRI study we investigated process of conscious reflection on the present self, the past self, and a close-other in the ASD and typically developing groups. Significant inter-group differences were found in the Past-Self condition. In individuals with ASD, reflection on the past self was associated with additional engagement of the posterior cingulate and posterior temporal structures. We hypothesize that this enhanced activation of widely distributed neural network reflects substantial difficulties in processes of reflection on one’s own person in the past.
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7. Eissa N, Al-Houqani M, Sadeq A, Ojha SK, Sasse A, Sadek B. {{Current Enlightenment About Etiology and Pharmacological Treatment of Autism Spectrum Disorder}}. {Front Neurosci}. 2018; 12: 304.
Autistic Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a complex neurodevelopmental brain disorder characterized by two core behavioral symptoms, namely impairments in social communication and restricted/repetitive behavior. The molecular mechanisms underlying ASD are not well understood. Recent genetic as well as non-genetic animal models contributed significantly in understanding the pathophysiology of ASD, as they establish autism-like behavior in mice and rats. Among the genetic causes, several chromosomal mutations including duplications or deletions could be possible causative factors of ASD. In addition, the biochemical basis suggests that several brain neurotransmitters, e.g., dopamine (DA), serotonin (5-HT), gamma-amino butyric acid (GABA), acetylcholine (ACh), glutamate (Glu) and histamine (HA) participate in the onset and progression of ASD. Despite of convincible understanding, risperidone and aripiprazole are the only two drugs available clinically for improving behavioral symptoms of ASD following approval by Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Till date, up to our knowledge there is no other drug approved for clinical usage specifically for ASD symptoms. However, many novel drug candidates and classes of compounds are underway for ASD at different phases of preclinical and clinical drug development. In this review, the diversity of numerous aetiological factors and the alterations in variety of neurotransmitter generation, release and function linked to ASD are discussed with focus on drugs currently used to manage neuropsychiatric symptoms related to ASD. The review also highlights the clinical development of drugs with emphasis on their pharmacological targets aiming at improving core symptoms in ASD.
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8. Farmer CA, Chilakamarri P, Thurm AE, Swedo SE, Holmes GL, Buckley AW. {{Spindle activity in young children with autism, developmental delay, or typical development}}. {Neurology}. 2018; 91(2): e112-e22.
OBJECTIVE: To determine whether spindle activity differs in young children with and without autism. METHODS: We investigated differences in spindle density, duration, and oscillatory features in 135 young children with autism, developmental delay without autism (DD), or typical development (TD) and secondarily assessed the dimensional relationship between spindle density and both cognitive ability and social functioning. RESULTS: Compared to TD, both spindle density (Cohen d 0.93, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.49-1.37) and duration (Cohen d 0.58, 95% CI 0.15-1.01) were significantly decreased in autism. Spindle density was also significantly reduced in autism compared to DD (Cohen d 0.61, 95% CI 0.13-1.09). Decreased spindle frequency in autism compared to both TD (Cohen d 0.47, 95% CI 0.04-0.90) and DD (Cohen d 0.58, 95% CI 0.10-1.06) did not survive correction. The DD group did not differ significantly from the TD group on any spindle parameter. These results, suggesting a relationship between spindle density and autism but not DD, were further illustrated in exploratory analyses, wherein nonverbal ratio IQ (RIQ) and the Vineland Socialization domain standard score were strongly correlated with spindle density in the full sample (r = 0.33, p = 001 and r = 0.41, p = 001, respectively) but not within group. After nonverbal RIQ was accounted for, the relationship between spindle density and Vineland Socialization remained statistically significant (r = 0.23, p < 0.01). However, Vineland Socialization scores accounted for the relationship between spindle density and nonverbal RIQ (r = 0.04, p = 0.67). CONCLUSION: In a large cohort of young children with autism, spindle density was reduced compared to groups of age-matched children with DD or TD. Alterations in the maturational trajectory of spindles may provide valuable insight into the neurophysiologic differences related to behavior in disorders of neurodevelopment. Lien vers le texte intégral (Open Access ou abonnement)
9. Fu Z, Tu Y, Di X, Du Y, Sui J, Biswal BB, Zhang Z, de Lacy N, Calhoun VD. {{Transient increased thalamic-sensory connectivity and decreased whole-brain dynamism in autism}}. {Neuroimage}. 2018.
Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder associated with social communication deficits and restricted/repetitive behaviors and is characterized by large-scale atypical subcortical-cortical connectivity, including impaired resting-state functional connectivity between thalamic and sensory regions. Previous studies have typically focused on the abnormal static connectivity in ASD and overlooked potential valuable dynamic patterns in brain connectivity. However, resting-state brain connectivity is indeed highly dynamic, and abnormalities in dynamic brain connectivity have been widely identified in psychiatric disorders. In this study, we investigated the dynamic functional network connectivity (dFNC) between 51 intrinsic connectivity networks in 170 individuals with ASD and 195 age-matched typically developing (TD) controls using independent component analysis and a sliding window approach. A hard clustering state analysis and a fuzzy meta-state analysis were conducted respectively, for the exploration of local and global aberrant dynamic connectivity patterns in ASD. We examined the group difference in dFNC between thalamic and sensory networks in each functional state and group differences in four high-dimensional dynamic measures. The results showed that compared with TD controls, individuals with ASD show an increase in transient connectivity between hypothalamus/subthalamus and some sensory networks (right postcentral gyrus, bi paracentral lobule, and lingual gyrus) in certain functional states, and diminished global meta-state dynamics of the whole-brain functional network. In addition, these atypical dynamic patterns are significantly associated with autistic symptoms indexed by the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule. These converging results support and extend previous observations regarding hyperconnectivity between thalamic and sensory regions and stable whole-brain functional configuration in ASD. Dynamic brain connectivity may serve as a potential biomarker of ASD and further investigation of these dynamic patterns might help to advance our understanding of behavioral differences in this complex neurodevelopmental disorder.
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10. Gunby KV, Rapp JT, Bottoni MM. {{A progressive model for teaching children with autism to follow gaze shift}}. {Journal of applied behavior analysis}. 2018; 51(3): 694-701.
Gunby, Rapp, Bottoni, Marchese and Wu (2017) taught three children with autism spectrum disorder to follow an instructor’s gaze shift to select a specific item; however, Gunby et al. used different types of prompts with each participant. To address this limitation, we used a progressive training model for increasing gaze shift for three children with autism spectrum disorder. Results show that each participant learned to follow an adult’s shift in gaze to make a correct selection. In addition, two participants displayed the skill in response to a parent’s gaze shift and with only social consequences; however, the third participant required verbal instruction and tangible reinforcement to demonstrate the skill outside of training sessions.
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11. Kotha SB, AlFaraj NSM, Ramdan TH, Alsalam MA, Al Ameer MJ, Almuzin ZM. {{Associations between Diet, Dietary and Oral Hygiene Habits with Caries Occurrence and Severity in Children with Autism at Dammam City, Saudi Arabia}}. {Open Access Maced J Med Sci}. 2018; 6(6): 1104-10.
AIM: The purpose of the study is to achieve the baseline information of the autistic child’s oral health status about the diet, dietary and hygiene habits. The association of these factors with dental caries were assessed. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The survey was composed of self-administered questionnaires to parents about their children’s’ demographic data followed by questions related to diet, dietary and hygiene habits. This is later followed by oral examination for estimating the decayed, missing and filled [dmft] scores as per WHO norms. The variables are analysed using t-tests and ANOVA. Pearson’s correlation coefficients were calculated for each of the independent variables to examine for autocorrelation. RESULTS: The mean age for the present study is 5.8 years with more predilections of caries in females. The autistic children prefer soft diet and pouch it in oral cavity resulting in increased caries though not significant. Other foods like nuts and pulses confectioneries and soft drinks resulted in increased caries, and our study shows significant relation. Consumption of sugars between meals and increased quantity of sugar per day also increased dental caries with highly significant results in our study. Hygiene habits also made a difference in the occurrence of caries though, in our study, it’s not significant. CONCLUSIONS: The study suggests that the oral health education programs should be conducted for the parents, caregivers and the teachers about the diet, dietary and the hygiene habits and the role they play in maintaining the oral hygiene.
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12. Li J, Hu S, Zhang K, Shi L, Zhang Y, Zhao T, Wang L, He X, Xia K, Liu C, Sun Z. {{A comparative study of the genetic components of three subcategories of autism spectrum disorder}}. {Mol Psychiatry}. 2018.
The fifth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5) controversially combined previously distinct subcategories of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) into a single diagnostic category. However, genetic convergences and divergences between different ASD subcategories are unclear. By retrieving 1725 exonic de novo mutations (DNMs) from 1628 subjects with autistic disorder (AD), 1873 from 1564 subjects with pervasive developmental disorder not otherwise specified (PDD-NOS), 276 from 247 subjects with Asperger’s syndrome (AS), and 2077 from 2299 controls, we found that rates of putative functional DNMs (loss-of-function, predicted deleterious missense, and frameshift) in all three subcategories were significantly higher than those in control. We then investigated the convergences and divergences of the three ASD subcategories based on four genetic aspects: whether any two ASD subcategories (1) shared significantly more genes with functional DNMs, (2) exhibited similar spatio-temporal expression patterns, (3) shared significantly more candidate genes, and (4) shared some ASD-associated functional pathways. It is revealed that AD and PDD-NOS were broadly convergent in terms of all four genetic aspects, suggesting these two ASD subcategories may be genetically combined. AS was divergent to AD and PDD-NOS for aspects of functional DNMs and expression patterns, whereas AS and AD/PDD-NOS were convergent for aspects of candidate genes and functional pathways. Our results indicated that the three ASD subcategories present more genetic convergences than divergences, favouring DSM-5’s new classification. This study suggests that specifically defined genotypes and their corresponding phenotypes should be integrated analyzed for precise diagnosis of complex disorders, such as ASD.
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13. Mailick MR, Movaghar A, Hong J, Greenberg JS, DaWalt LS, Zhou L, Jackson J, Rathouz PJ, Baker MW, Brilliant M, Page D, Berry-Kravis E. {{Health Profiles of Mosaic Versus Non-mosaic FMR1 Premutation Carrier Mothers of Children With Fragile X Syndrome}}. {Front Genet}. 2018; 9: 173.
The FMR1 premutation is of increasing interest to the FXS community, as questions about a primary premutation phenotype warrant research attention. 100 FMR1 premutation carrier mothers (mean age = 58; 67-138 CGG repeats) of adults with fragile X syndrome were studied with respect to their physical and mental health, motor, and neurocognitive characteristics. We explored the correlates of CGG repeat mosaicism in women with expanded alleles. Mothers provided buccal swabs from which DNA was extracted and the FMR1 CGG genotyping was performed (Amplidex Kit, Asuragen). Mothers were categorized into three groups: Group 1: premutation non-mosaic (n = 45); Group 2: premutation mosaic (n = 41), and Group 3: premutation/full mutation mosaic (n = 14). Group 2 mothers had at least two populations of cells with different allele sizes in the premutation range besides their major expanded allele. Group 3 mothers had a very small population of cells in the full mutation range (>200 CGGs) in addition to one or multiple populations of cells with different allele sizes in the premutation range. Machine learning (random forest) was used to identify symptoms and conditions that correctly classified mothers with respect to mosaicism; follow-up comparisons were made to characterize the three groups. In categorizing mosaicism, the random forest yielded significantly better classification than random classification, with overall area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUROC) of 0.737. Among the most important symptoms and conditions that contributed to the classification were anxiety, menopause symptoms, executive functioning limitations, and difficulty walking several blocks, with the women who had full mutation mosaicism (Group 3) unexpectedly having better health. Although only 14 premutation carrier mothers in the present sample also had a small population of full mutation cells, their profile of comparatively better health, mental health, and executive functioning was unexpected. This preliminary finding should prompt additional research on larger numbers of participants with more extensive phenotyping to confirm the clinical correlates of low-level full mutation mosaicism in premutation carriers and to probe possible mechanisms.
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14. Morrison S, Armitano CN, Raffaele CT, Deutsch SI, Neumann SA, Caracci H, Urbano MR. {{Neuromotor and cognitive responses of adults with autism spectrum disorder compared to neurotypical adults}}. {Experimental brain research}. 2018.
Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a common neurodevelopmental disorder, whose core symptom domains include impaired social communication and narrowed interests and/or repetitive behaviors; in addition, deficits of general cognition, neuromotor function, and movement ability can be observed. This study was designed to examine differences in neuromotor and cognitive functions for a group of young adults with ASD and age-matched controls. It was also of interest to assess whether changes in the intra-individual variability (IIV) of these selected neuromotor and cognitive tasks also occurred. Increased IIV in persons with ASD may reveal important organizational features of their neuromotor system that differ from neurotypical controls. Twenty neurotypical adult individuals (24.3 +/- 2.8 years) and twenty adults with a clinician-assigned diagnosis of ASD (21.2 +/- 4.4 years) participated in this study. Specific cognitive and motor assessments included Trails Making Tests A&B, Symbol Digit Modalities Test, Purdue Pegboard Test, simple reaction time, finger tapping, hand grip strength, balance, and gait. Results revealed that the ASD adults exhibited decreased upper limb strength and slower responses for finger tapping, hand dexterity, reaction times, and gait compared to the non-ASD controls. The general slowing of motor responses for the persons with ASD was also associated with increased within-subject variability during the reaction time, finger tapping, hand grip, and gait assessments compared to neurotypical adults, illustrating that IIV measures may be a useful marker of widespread neuromotor dysfunction for adults with ASD. Overall, these findings are consistent with clinical observations that abnormalities of movement performance and cognitive performance are an associated feature of ASD in young adults.
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15. Ross SM, Smit E, Twardzik E, Logan SW, McManus BM. {{Patient-Centered Medical Home and Receipt of Part C Early Intervention Among Young CSHCN and Developmental Disabilities Versus Delays: NS-CSHCN 2009-2010}}. {Maternal and child health journal}. 2018.
Objective To determine, among a sample of young CSHCN with developmental conditions, (1) characteristics associated with receipt of both patient-centered medical home (PCMH) and Part C early intervention, (2) the association between each PCMH criterion and receipt of Part C generally, and (3) for CSHCN with disabilities versus delays. Methods Secondary data analysis of the 2009/10 National Survey of CSHCN. Sample included CSHCN (n = 755) birth to 3 years with a developmental disability or delay that affected their function. Adjusted ordinal regression analysis examined characteristics associated with receiving both PCMH and Part C. Stratified adjusted logistic regression examined the association between PCMH criteria and Part C, by disabilities versus delays. Results 19% of our sample received both PCMH and Part C. Black, non-Hispanic children had lower odds [OR 0.44, 95% CI (0.20, 0.97)] and CSHCN with more severe developmental conditions had higher odds [OR 2.13, 95% CI (1.22, 3.17)] of receiving both services. CSHCN with a PCMH were no more likely to be receiving Part C than those without a PCMH [OR 0.85, 95% CI (0.49, 1.49)]. Receiving any one of the PCMH criterion was not associated with receiving Part C, with one exception. Among CSHCN with delays, effective care coordination was associated with lower odds of Part C [OR 0.46, 95% CI (0.21, 0.97)]. Conclusion Concurrent PCMH and Part C access was low for young CSHCN with developmental conditions affecting their function. Given the overlapping mandates for PCMH and Part C, integrated efforts are warranted to identify if lack of concurrent services in fact reflects unmet service needs.
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16. Sadek A, Berk LS, Mainess K, Daher NS. {{Antioxidants and Autism: Teachers’ Perceptions of Behavioral Changes}}. {Advances in mind-body medicine}. 2018.
BACKGROUND- Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) demonstrate a physiological imbalance between free radicals, resultant from oxidative stress, and antioxidants. Oxidative stress is linked to the pathogenesis of this neurocognitive disorder. The aim of this pilot feasibility study was to examine the effect of consumption of high concentration antioxidant cacao on behavior of children with ASD. METHODS- This was a 4-week pre-test post-test experimental pilot study of high antioxidant cacao and children with ASD. Participants consumed 8 squares (or 16 grams) per day of the dark chocolate which had a concentration of 70% cacao and 30% organic cane sugar (total antioxidant concentration was 8,320). The two main behavioral measures were the Aberrant Behavior Checklist- 2nd Edition and the Autism Spectrum Rating Scale which were completed by the child’s teacher at baseline and end of week four. RESULTS- Sixteen participants were recruited for this study. Follow up data was available on 12 participants (9 males, 3 females, mean age of 10.9 +/-3.9 years). Significant improvements on the Autism Spectrum Rating Scale were noted in Social/Communication (p=0.03, eta2=0.79), Unusual Behaviors (p=0.02, eta2=0.70), and Self-Regulation (p=0.04, eta2=0.59). No significant changes were noted on any of the Aberrant Behavior Checklist-2 subscales (p>.05). CONCLUSION- Results from this study support the potential therapeutic benefit of antioxidants in improving social communication, unusual behaviors, and self-regulation behaviors of children with ASD. Further robust randomized controlled trials are now necessary to elaborate the validity of these findings.
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17. Sanctuary MR, Kain JN, Angkustsiri K, German JB. {{Dietary Considerations in Autism Spectrum Disorders: The Potential Role of Protein Digestion and Microbial Putrefaction in the Gut-Brain Axis}}. {Frontiers in nutrition}. 2018; 5: 40.
Children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD), characterized by a range of behavioral abnormalities and social deficits, display high incidence of gastrointestinal (GI) co-morbidities including chronic constipation and diarrhea. Research is now increasingly able to characterize the « fragile gut » in these children and understand the role that impairment of specific GI functions plays in the GI symptoms associated with ASD. This mechanistic understanding is extending to the interactions between diet and ASD, including food structure and protein digestive capacity in exacerbating autistic symptoms. Children with ASD and gut co-morbidities exhibit low digestive enzyme activity, impaired gut barrier integrity and the presence of antibodies specific for dietary proteins in the peripheral circulation. These findings support the hypothesis that entry of dietary peptides from the gut lumen into the vasculature are associated with an aberrant immune response. Furthermore, a subset of children with ASD exhibit high concentrations of metabolites originating from microbial activity on proteinaceous substrates. Taken together, the combination of specific protein intakes poor digestion, gut barrier integrity, microbiota composition and function all on a background of ASD represents a phenotypic pattern. A potential consequence of this pattern of conditions is that the fragile gut of some children with ASD is at risk for GI symptoms that may be amenable to improvement with specific dietary changes. There is growing evidence that shows an association between gut dysfunction and dysbiosis and ASD symptoms. It is therefore urgent to perform more experimental and clinical research on the « fragile gut » in children with ASD in order to move toward advancements in clinical practice. Identifying those factors that are of clinical value will provide an evidence-based path to individual management and targeted solutions; from real time sensing to the design of diets with personalized protein source/processing, all to improve GI function in children with ASD.
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18. Siniscalco D, Schultz S, Brigida AL, Antonucci N. {{Inflammation and Neuro-Immune Dysregulations in Autism Spectrum Disorders}}. {Pharmaceuticals (Basel, Switzerland)}. 2018; 11(2).
Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is characterized by persistent deficits in social communication and interaction and restricted-repetitive patterns of behavior, interests, or activities. Strong inflammation states are associated with ASD. This inflammatory condition is often linked to immune system dysfunction. Several cell types are enrolled to trigger and sustain these processes. Neuro-inflammation and neuro-immune abnormalities have now been established in ASD as key factors in its development and maintenance. In this review, we will explore inflammatory conditions, dysfunctions in neuro-immune cross-talk, and immune system treatments in ASD management.
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19. Sparks B, Cooper J, Hayes C, Williams K. {{Constipation in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder Associated with Increased Emergency Department Visits and Inpatient Admissions}}. {The Journal of pediatrics}. 2018.
OBJECTIVE: To evaluate whether constipation in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is associated with increased emergency department (ED) visits and inpatient admissions compared with constipation in children without ASD. STUDY DESIGN: The Nationwide Emergency Department Sample was used to retrospectively examine demographic data, clinical characteristics, and outcomes of children with ASD and children without ASD who visited the ED for constipation between 2006 and 2014. RESULTS: ED visits by children with ASD were more likely to be constipation-related compared with visits by children with other chronic conditions or children with no chronic conditions (1.9% vs 0.6% vs 0.9%; P < .001). Children with ASD were more likely than children with other chronic conditions or no chronic conditions to be admitted to the hospital after an ED visit for constipation (15.0% vs 10.6% vs 1.2%; P < .001). Hospital charges were higher in children with ASD than in those without chronic conditions. CONCLUSIONS: Constipation is responsible for a large proportion of ED visits and more inpatient admissions resulting from these ED visits. These findings suggest a need for developing more effective outpatient therapies for constipation in children with ASD. Lien vers le texte intégral (Open Access ou abonnement)
20. Wykes KM, Hugrass L, Crewther DP. {{Autistic Traits Are Not a Strong Predictor of Binocular Rivalry Dynamics}}. {Front Neurosci}. 2018; 12: 338.
It has been suggested that differences in binocular rivalry switching rates and mixed percept durations in ASD could serve as a biomarker of excitation/inhibition imbalances in the autistic brain. If so, one would expect these differences to extend to neurotypical groups with high vs. low levels of autistic tendency. Previous studies did not detect any correlations between binocular rivalry dynamics and Autism Spectrum Quotient (AQ) scores in neurotypical control groups; however it is unclear whether this was due to the characteristics of the rivalry stimuli that were used. We further investigated this possibility in a sample of neurotypical young adults. The binocular rivalry stimuli were simple gratings, complex objects, or scrambled objects, which were presented dichoptically, either at fixation or in the periphery. A Bayesian correlation analysis showed that individuals with higher AQ scores tended to have lower perceptual switching rates for the centrally presented, simple grating rival stimuli. However, there was no evidence of a relationship between AQ and switching rates, reversal rates or mixed percept durations for any of the other binocular rivalry conditions. Overall, our findings suggest that in the non-clinical population, autistic personality traits are not a strong predictor of binocular rivalry dynamics.
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21. Zhao F, Zhang H, Rekik I, An Z, Shen D. {{Diagnosis of Autism Spectrum Disorders Using Multi-Level High-Order Functional Networks Derived From Resting-State Functional MRI}}. {Front Hum Neurosci}. 2018; 12: 184.
Functional brain networks derived from resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI) have been widely used for Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) diagnosis. Typically, these networks are constructed by calculating functional connectivity (FC) between any pair of brain regions of interest (ROIs), i.e., using Pearson’s correlation between rs-fMRI time series. However, this can only be called as a low-order representation of the functional interaction, because the relationship is investigated just between two ROIs. Brain disorders might not only affect low-order FC, but also high-order FC, i.e., the higher-level relationship among multiple brain regions, which might be more crucial for diagnosis. To comprehensively characterize such relationship for better diagnosis of ASD, we propose a multi-level, high-order FC network representation that can nicely capture complex interactions among brain regions. Then, we design a feature selection method to identify those discriminative multi-level, high-order FC features for ASD diagnosis. Finally, we design an ensemble classifier with multiple linear SVMs, each trained on a specific level of FC networks, for boosting the final classification accuracy. Experimental results show that the integration of both low-order and first-level high-order FC networks achieves the best ASD diagnostic accuracy (81%). We further investigated those selected discriminative low-order and high-order FC features and found that the high-order FC features can provide complementary information to the low-order FC features in the ASD diagnosis.