1. Bernie C, Williams K, Graham F, May T. Coaching While Waiting for Autism Spectrum Disorder Assessment : Protocol of a Pilot Feasibility Study for a Randomized Controlled Trial on Occupational Performance Coaching and Service Navigation Support. JMIR Res Protoc ;2021 (Jan 7) ;10(1):e20011.

BACKGROUND : In Australia, the average time between a first concern of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and diagnosis is over 2 years. After referral for assessment, families often wait 6-12 months before their appointment. This can be a time of uncertainty and stress for families. For some families, other forms of assistance are not accessible and thus timely intervention opportunities are missed. There is little evidence about how to provide the best support for children or caregivers while on assessment waiting lists. OBJECTIVE : The aim of this study is to determine whether use of a coaching intervention called Occupational Performance Coaching (OPC) combined with service navigation support is feasible for families waiting for ASD assessment, as a crucial first step in planning a randomized controlled trial. METHODS : A pilot and feasibility study will be conducted using recommended constructs and associated measures, which will be reported using CONSORT (Consolidated Standards or Reporting Trials) guidance. Participants will be child and caregiver dyads or triads, recruited within 4 months of their child (aged 1-7 years) being referred to one of two services for an ASD assessment in Victoria, Australia. A blinded randomization procedure will be used to allocate participants to one of three trial arms : (1) coaching and support intervention delivered face to face, (2) coaching and support intervention via videoconference, and (3) usual care. Descriptive statistics will be used to describe the sample characteristics of parents and children, inclusive of service access at baseline and follow up. Recruitment rates will be reported, and retention rates will be evaluated against a predicted rate of 70%-80% in each intervention arm. Goal attainment, using the Canadian Occupational Performance Measure, will indicate preliminary evidence for efficacy within the intervention arms, with an increase of 2 or more points on a 10-point performance and satisfaction scale considered clinically significant. RESULTS : The study was approved by The Royal Children’s Hospital Research Ethics and Governance Department in September 2018. As of October 2020, 16 families have been recruited to the study. Data analysis is ongoing and results are expected to be published in 2021. CONCLUSIONS : Study findings will support planning for a future randomized controlled trial to assess the efficacy of OPC and service navigation support for caregivers of children awaiting ASD assessment. TRIAL REGISTRATION : Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry ACTRN12620000164998 ; www.anzctr.org.au/Trial/Registration/TrialReview.aspx?id=378793&isReview=true. INTERNATIONAL REGISTERED REPORT IDENTIFIER (IRRID) : DERR1-10.2196/20011.

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2. Blakeley-Smith A, Meyer AT, Boles RE, Reaven J. Group cognitive behavioural treatment for anxiety in adolescents with ASD and intellectual disability : A pilot and feasibility study. J Appl Res Intellect Disabil ;2021 (Jan 6)

BACKGROUND : Adolescents with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and intellectual disability evidence significant anxiety. This study aimed to adapt a group cognitive behaviour therapies (CBT) programme designed for youth with ASD and anxiety to meet the cognitive, communication, and behavioural needs of adolescents with intellectual disability, and assess initial feasibility and efficacy of the intervention. METHODS : Structural, content and procedural adaptations were made to a 14-week family-focused CBT intervention. Twenty-three adolescents with ASD, intellectual disability and anxiety were included. Treatment acceptability along with adolescent anxiety symptoms was assessed via parent report measures. RESULTS : Of the 23 participants, 19 completed treatment and attended 94% of sessions. Parent acceptability was high. Significant reductions were noted on anxiety symptoms post-intervention. CONCLUSIONS : Results indicate that the CBT group was feasible and acceptable. Preliminary outcomes suggest that adolescent anxiety improved, although replication with a larger sample and comparison to a control group is needed.

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3. Coffield CN, Harris JF, Janvier YM, Lopez M, Gonzalez N, Jimenez ME. Parental Concerns of Underserved Young Children at Risk for Autism. J Health Care Poor Underserved ;2020 ;31(2):742-755.

Early identification of children at risk for autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is critical to promote optimal outcomes. However disparities in early recognition of ASD based on race, ethnicity, income, and English proficiency persist. Little is known regarding how parents from these groups describe concerns. The study aim was to understand how parents of children from underserved backgrounds at developmental risk describe concerns about child development and behavior. To address this gap, developmental concerns of 204 parents of children at-risk for ASD from underserved communities were analyzed. In this sample, the number and type of parental concerns differed based on parent primary language but not the presence of ASD or ethnicity. Parents whose primary language was Spanish were less likely to express concerns about their child’s development or to express ASD-specific concerns. These findings have implications for how clinicians elicit and interpret developmental concerns from underserved families.

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4. Conrad C, Linnea K, Augustyn M. Congenital Blindness and Autism Spectrum Disorder. J Dev Behav Pediatr ;2021 (Jan 7) ;Publish Ahead of Print

Emily is a 10-year-old girl who is in fifth grade. She has known congenital blindness secondary to septo-optic dysplasia with bilateral optic nerve hypoplasia and precocious puberty. Emily was referred to a Developmental-Behavioral Pediatrics clinic for concerns of academic, social, and language challenges.Emily was born at term gestation after an uncomplicated pregnancy. At 4 months of age, she underwent ophthalmologic evaluation because of nystagmus, reduced visual tracking and response to light, and increased startle response to touch. An magnetic resonance imaging of the brain and orbits demonstrated bilateral hypoplastic optic nerves and the absence of posterior pituitary. Subsequent endocrinological evaluation for pituitary function was reassuring. Emily’s early developmental milestones were delayed across all domains. She participated in early intervention programming including speech/language, physical, and occupational therapy with interval improvement in skills. She also received supports for low vision. In the elementary school, she received supports and services for low vision in a general education classroom. It was observed that Emily had reduced interest in her peers, a strong preference for routine, and distinctive play interests. As elementary school progressed, Emily had increasing challenges with academic achievement, despite performing well on formal testing in second grade.At a recent ophthalmology visit, Emily’s best-corrected visual acuity was noted to be 20/800 in each eye.Neuropsychological testing was completed with visual accommodation and administration of measures with minimal visual requirements. Cognitive testing revealed variable verbal intellect and language skills. Academic testing revealed strong reading abilities and a relative weakness in math. Adaptive measures were notable for reduced function and highlighted social vulnerabilities. Parent measures regarding mood and behavior were not concerning.Emily’s speech was noted to have a very distinctive prosody with notable response latency. Echolalia and scripting were appreciated, and Emily often asked about names and used made-up words. When excited, Emily flapped her arms and hands, jumped up and down, or clapped her hands quickly. Socially, Emily was engaged and seemed eager to please. She was able to participate in back-and-forth conversation. Although she often responded to social bids, she frequently directed the conversation to her own areas of interest. Emily looked in the direction of the examiner when talking to the examiner and when the examiner spoke. Although a diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder is under consideration, what special considerations are necessary in the context of congenital blindness ?

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5. Dahlgren J, Healy S, MacDonald M, Geldhof J, Palmiere K, Haegele JA. Physical activity and screen time among youth with autism : A longitudinal analysis from 9 to 18 years. Autism ;2021 (Jan 7):1362361320981314.

To date, studies using cross-sectional methodologies make up a majority of the literature surrounding children with autism spectrum disorders and participation in physical activity and screen time. Longitudinal studies are needed to examine how physical activity and screen time behaviors co-develop for children with and without an autism spectrum disorder. To address this research gap, this study compared how physical activity and screen time levels changed over time (from 9 to 18 years of age) between youth with autism spectrum disorder and youth with neurotypical development. Data on the levels of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity, light physical activity, television-, and video game-based screen time, collected as a part of the « Growing up in Ireland » study, were compared between youth with autism spectrum disorder and a propensity-matched sample of youth with neurotypical development (n = 88 per group ; 176 in total). Robust regression analyses indicated that children with autism spectrum disorder became less active over time compared to children with neurotypical development and that video game screen time also differed significantly between the groups when children were 9 years old. These findings elucidate important disparities present between these groups of children during pivotal developmental times.

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6. Fields VL, Soke GN, Reynolds A, Tian LH, Wiggins L, Maenner M, DiGuiseppi C, Kral TVE, Hightshoe K, Schieve LA. Pica, Autism, and Other Disabilities. Pediatrics ;2021 (Jan 6)

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES : Pica, the repeated ingestion of nonfood items, can be life-threatening. Although case reports describe pica in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) or intellectual disability (ID), there has been little systematic study of pica prevalence. We assessed pica in children 30 to 68 months of age (median = 55.4 months) with and without ASD. METHODS : Our sample from the Study to Explore Early Development, a multisite case-control study, included children with ASD (n = 1426), children with other developmental disabilities (DDs) (n = 1735), and general population-based controls (POPs) (n = 1578). We subdivided the ASD group according to whether children had ID and the DD group according to whether they had ID and/or some ASD characteristics. Standardized developmental assessments and/or questionnaires were used to define final study groups, subgroups, and pica. We examined pica prevalence in each group and compared ASD and DD groups and subgroups to the POP group using prevalence ratios adjusted for sociodemographic factors. RESULTS : Compared with the prevalence of pica among POPs (3.5%), pica was higher in children with ASD (23.2%) and DD (8.4%), and in the following subgroups : ASD with ID (28.1%), ASD without ID (14.0%), DD with ID (9.7%), DD with ASD characteristics (12.0%), and DD with both ID and ASD characteristics (26.3%) ; however, pica prevalence was not elevated in children with DD with neither ID nor ASD characteristics (3.2%). Between-group differences remained after adjustment (adjusted prevalence ratio range 1.9-8.0, all P <.05). CONCLUSIONS : Pica may be common in young children with ASD, ASD characteristics, and ID. These findings inform the specialized health care needs of these children.

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7. Garrido N, Cruz F, Egea RR, Simon C, Sadler-Riggleman I, Beck D, Nilsson E, Ben Maamar M, Skinner MK. Sperm DNA methylation epimutation biomarker for paternal offspring autism susceptibility. Clin Epigenetics ;2021 (Jan 7) ;13(1):6.

BACKGROUND : Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) has increased over tenfold over the past several decades and appears predominantly associated with paternal transmission. Although genetics is anticipated to be a component of ASD etiology, environmental epigenetics is now also thought to be an important factor. Epigenetic alterations, such as DNA methylation, have been correlated with ASD. The current study was designed to identify a DNA methylation signature in sperm as a potential biomarker to identify paternal offspring autism susceptibility. METHODS AND RESULTS : Sperm samples were obtained from fathers that have children with or without autism, and the sperm then assessed for alterations in DNA methylation. A genome-wide analysis (> 90%) for differential DNA methylation regions (DMRs) was used to identify DMRs in the sperm of fathers (n = 13) with autistic children in comparison with those (n = 13) without ASD children. The 805 DMR genomic features such as chromosomal location, CpG density and length of the DMRs were characterized. Genes associated with the DMRs were identified and found to be linked to previously known ASD genes, as well as other neurobiology-related genes. The potential sperm DMR biomarkers/diagnostic was validated with blinded test sets (n = 8-10) of individuals with an approximately 90% accuracy. CONCLUSIONS : Observations demonstrate a highly significant set of 805 DMRs in sperm that can potentially act as a biomarker for paternal offspring autism susceptibility. Ancestral or early-life paternal exposures that alter germline epigenetics are anticipated to be a molecular component of ASD etiology.

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8. Kreis I, Biegler R, Tjelmeland H, Mittner M, Klæbo Reitan S, Pfuhl G. Overestimation of volatility in schizophrenia and autism ? A comparative study using a probabilistic reasoning task. PLoS One ;2021 ;16(1):e0244975.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES : A plethora of studies has investigated and compared social cognition in autism and schizophrenia ever since both conditions were first described in conjunction more than a century ago. Recent computational theories have proposed similar mechanistic explanations for various symptoms beyond social cognition. They are grounded in the idea of a general misestimation of uncertainty but so far, almost no studies have directly compared both conditions regarding uncertainty processing. The current study aimed to do so with a particular focus on estimation of volatility, i.e. the probability for the environment to change. METHODS : A probabilistic decision-making task and a visual working (meta-)memory task were administered to a sample of 86 participants (19 with a diagnosis of high-functioning autism, 21 with a diagnosis of schizophrenia, and 46 neurotypically developing individuals). RESULTS : While persons with schizophrenia showed lower visual working memory accuracy than neurotypical individuals, no significant group differences were found for metamemory or any of the probabilistic decision-making task variables. Nevertheless, exploratory analyses suggest that there may be an overestimation of volatility in subgroups of participants with autism and schizophrenia. Correlations revealed relationships between different variables reflecting (mis)estimation of uncertainty, visual working memory accuracy and metamemory. LIMITATIONS : Limitations include the comparably small sample sizes of the autism and the schizophrenia group as well as the lack of cognitive ability and clinical symptom measures. CONCLUSIONS : The results of the current study provide partial support for the notion of a general uncertainty misestimation account of autism and schizophrenia.

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9. Naegelin Y, Kuhle J, Schädelin S, Datta AN, Magon S, Amann M, Barro C, Ramelli GP, Heesom K, Barde YA, Weber P, Kappos L. Fingolimod in children with Rett syndrome : the FINGORETT study. Orphanet J Rare Dis ;2021 (Jan 6) ;16(1):19.

BACKGROUND : Rett syndrome (RS) is a severe neurodevelopmental disorder for which there is no approved therapy. This study aimed to assess safety and efficacy of oral fingolimod in children with RS using a pre-post and case-control design. METHODS : At the University of Basel Children’s Hospital, Basel, Switzerland, children with RS were included if they were older than 6 years and met the established diagnostic criteria of RS, including a positive MeCP2 mutation. Participants were observed 6 months before and after treatment and received 12 months of fingolimod treatment. Serum samples of 50 children without RS served as reference for brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) measurements. Primary outcome measures were safety and efficacy, the latter measured by change in levels of BDNF in serum/CSF (cerebrospinal fluid) and change in deep gray matter volumes measured by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Secondary outcome measure was efficacy measured by change in clinical scores [Vineland Adaptive Behaviour Scale (VABS), Rett Severity Scale (RSSS) and Hand Apraxia Scale (HAS)]. RESULTS : Six children with RS (all girls, mean and SD age 11.3 ± 3.1 years) were included. Serum samples of 50 children without RS (25 females, mean and SD age 13.5 ± 3.9 years) served as reference for BDNF measurements. No serious adverse events occurred. Primary and secondary outcome measures were not met. CSF BDNF levels were associated with all clinical scores : RSSS (estimate – 0.04, mult.effect 0.96, CI [0.94 ; 0.98], p = 0.03), HAS (estimate – 0.09, mult.effect 0.91, CI [0.89 ; 0.94], p < 0.01) and VABS (communication : estimate 0.03, mult.effect 1.03, CI [1.02 ; 1.04], p < 0.01/daily living : estimate 0.03, mult.effect 1.03, CI [1.02 ; 1.04], p < 0.01/social skills : estimate 0.07, mult.effect 1.08, CI [1.05 ; 1.11], p < 0.01/motoric skills : estimate 0.04, mult.effect 1.04, CI [1.03 ; 1.06], p = 0.02). CONCLUSIONS : In children with RS, treatment with fingolimod was safe. The study did not provide supportive evidence for an effect of fingolimod on clinical, laboratory, and imaging measures. CSF BDNF levels were associated with clinical scores, indicating a need to further evaluate its potential as a biomarker for RS. This finding should be further validated in independent patient groups. TRIAL REGISTRATION : Clinical Trials.gov NCT02061137, registered on August 27th 2013, https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/study/NCT02061137 .

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10. Nie PY, Tong L, Li MD, Fu CH, Peng JB, Ji LL. miR-142 downregulation alleviates rat PTSD-like behaviors, reduces the level of inflammatory cytokine expression and apoptosis in hippocampus, and upregulates the expression of fragile X mental retardation protein. J Neuroinflammation ;2021 (Jan 6) ;18(1):17.

BACKGROUND : FMRP is a selective mRNA-binding protein that regulates protein synthesis at synapses, and its loss may lead to the impairment of trace fear memory. Previously, we found that FMRP levels in the hippocampus of rats with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) were decreased. However, the mechanism underlying these changes remains unclear. METHODS : Forty-eight male Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly divided into four groups. The experimental groups were treated with the single-prolonged stress (SPS) procedure and injected with a lentivirus-mediated inhibitor of miR-142-5p. Behavior test as well as morphology and molecular biology experiments were performed to detect the effect of miR-142 downregulation on PTSD, which was further verified by in vitro experiments. RESULTS : We found that silence of miRNA-142 (miR-142), an upstream regulator of FMRP, could alleviate PTSD-like behaviors of rats exposed to the SPS paradigm. MiR-142 silence not only decreased the levels of proinflammatory mediators, such as interleukin-1β, interleukin-6, and tumor necrosis factor-α, but also increased the expressive levels of synaptic proteins including PSD95 and synapsin I in the hippocampus, which was one of the key brain regions associated with PTSD. We further detected that miR-142 silence also downregulated the transportation of nuclear factor kappa-B (NF-κB) into the nuclei of neurons and might further affect the morphology of neurons. CONCLUSIONS : The results revealed miR-142 downregulation could alleviate PTSD-like behaviors through attenuating neuroinflammation in the hippocampus of SPS rats by binding to FMRP.

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11. Numata N, Nakagawa A, Yoshioka K, Isomura K, Matsuzawa D, Setsu R, Nakazato M, Shimizu E. Associations between autism spectrum disorder and eating disorders with and without self-induced vomiting : an empirical study. J Eat Disord ;2021 (Jan 6) ;9(1):5.

BACKGROUND : Although approximately 23% of anorexia nervosa (AN) patients have concomitant autism spectrum disorder (ASD), it is clinically difficult to determine ASD coexistence in patients with eating disorders. Restrictive AN is more common in younger patients and self-induced vomiting usually appears during adolescence/young adulthood, in order to prevent gaining weight caused by overeating. However, some patients are tolerant of weight gain even if they start overeating. It is important to understand the essential difference between those who vomit and those who do not vomit. In this study, we hypothesised that the absence of self-induced vomiting may be associated with the presence of ASD and aimed to assess the presence of ASD traits in each eating disorder (EDs). Clarifying this association helps to consider the coexistence of ASD in the clinical setting and can lead to the next detailed ASD evaluation, and as a result, helps to determine the appropriate treatment and support individually. METHODS : We retrospectively evaluated 43 females aged 15-45 years who attended Chiba University Hospital between 2012 and 2016 using the Eating Disorder Examination Questionnaire (EDE-Q) and Autism-Spectrum Quotient (AQ) to quantify the severity of the EDs and to identify whether ASD traits were present. RESULTS : There was no difference in the AQ score between bingeing-purging type AN and restricting type AN. However, there was significant difference in the AQ score between bulimia nervosa and binge EDs (BED). Of the 4 ED subtypes, BED had the highest ASD traits. The non-vomiting group with illness duration < 4 years had a significantly higher AQ communication score than the vomiting group with illness duration ≥4 years. CONCLUSIONS : There was a difference in the AQ score by the presence or absence of self-induced vomiting. The results of this study suggest an association between high scores on AQ and non-vomiting. Thus, evaluation of patients for the absence of self-induced vomiting while assessing them for EDs may help us to understand the association with ASD traits.

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12. Pagan C, Benabou M, Leblond C, Cliquet F, Mathieu A, Lemière N, Goubran-Botros H, Delorme R, Leboyer M, Callebert J, Bourgeron T, Launay JM. Decreased phenol sulfotransferase activities associated with hyperserotonemia in autism spectrum disorders. Transl Psychiatry ;2021 (Jan 7) ;11(1):23.

Hyperserotonemia is the most replicated biochemical abnormality associated with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). However, previous studies of serotonin synthesis, catabolism, and transport have not elucidated the mechanisms underlying this hyperserotonemia. Here we investigated serotonin sulfation by phenol sulfotransferases (PST) in blood samples from 97 individuals with ASD and their first-degree relatives (138 parents and 56 siblings), compared with 106 controls. We report a deficient activity of both PST isoforms (M and P) in platelets from individuals with ASD (35% and 78% of patients, respectively), confirmed in autoptic tissues (9 pineal gland samples from individuals with ASD-an important source of serotonin). Platelet PST-M deficiency was strongly associated with hyperserotonemia in individuals with ASD. We then explore genetic or pharmacologic modulation of PST activities in mice : variations of PST activities were associated with marked variations of blood serotonin, demonstrating the influence of the sulfation pathway on serotonemia. We also conducted in 1645 individuals an extensive study of SULT1A genes, encoding PST and mapping at highly polymorphic 16p11.2 locus, which did not reveal an association between copy number or single nucleotide variations and PST activity, blood serotonin or the risk of ASD. In contrast, our broader assessment of sulfation metabolism in ASD showed impairments of other sulfation-related markers, including inorganic sulfate, heparan-sulfate, and heparin sulfate-sulfotransferase. Our study proposes for the first time a compelling mechanism for hyperserotonemia, in a context of global impairment of sulfation metabolism in ASD.

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13. Pierce S, Kadlaskar G, Edmondson DA, McNally Keehn R, Dydak U, Keehn B. Associations between sensory processing and electrophysiological and neurochemical measures in children with ASD : an EEG-MRS study. J Neurodev Disord ;2021 (Jan 6) ;13(1):5.

BACKGROUND : Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is associated with hyper- and/or hypo-sensitivity to sensory input. Spontaneous alpha power, which plays an important role in shaping responsivity to sensory information, is reduced across the lifespan in individuals with ASD. Furthermore, an excitatory/inhibitory imbalance has also been linked to sensory dysfunction in ASD and has been hypothesized to underlie atypical patterns of spontaneous brain activity. The present study examined whether resting-state alpha power differed in children with ASD as compared to TD children, and investigated the relationships between alpha levels, concentrations of excitatory and inhibitory neurotransmitters, and atypical sensory processing in ASD. METHODS : Participants included thirty-one children and adolescents with ASD and thirty-one age- and IQ-matched typically developing (TD) participants. Resting-state electroencephalography (EEG) was used to obtain measures of alpha power. A subset of participants (ASD = 16 ; TD = 16) also completed a magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) protocol in order to measure concentrations of excitatory (glutamate + glutamine ; Glx) and inhibitory (GABA) neurotransmitters. RESULTS : Children with ASD evidenced significantly decreased resting alpha power compared to their TD peers. MRS estimates of GABA and Glx did not differ between groups with the exception of Glx in the temporal-parietal junction. Inter-individual differences in alpha power within the ASD group were not associated with region-specific concentrations of GABA or Glx, nor were they associated with sensory processing differences. However, atypically decreased Glx was associated with increased sensory impairment in children with ASD. CONCLUSIONS : Although we replicated prior reports of decreased alpha power in ASD, atypically reduced alpha was not related to neurochemical differences or sensory symptoms in ASD. Instead, reduced Glx in the temporal-parietal cortex was associated with greater hyper-sensitivity in ASD. Together, these findings may provide insight into the neural underpinnings of sensory processing differences present in ASD.

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14. Win-Shwe TT, Kyi-Tha-Thu C, Fujitani Y, Tsukahara S, Hirano S. Perinatal Exposure to Diesel Exhaust-Origin Secondary Organic Aerosol Induces Autism-Like Behavior in Rats. Int J Mol Sci ;2021 (Jan 7) ;22(2)

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by impaired social communication, poor social interactions, and repetitive behaviors. We aimed to examine autism-like behaviors and related gene expressions in rats exposed to diesel exhaust (DE)-origin secondary organic aerosol (DE-SOA) perinatally. Sprague-Dawley pregnant rats were exposed to clean air (control), DE, and DE-SOA in the exposure chamber from gestational day 14 to postnatal day 21. Behavioral phenotypes of ASD were investigated in 10 13-week-old offspring using a three-chambered social behavior test, social dominance tube test, and marble burying test. Prefrontal cortex was collected to examine molecular analyses including neurological and immunological markers and glutamate concentration, using RT-PCR and ELISA methods. DE-SOA-exposed male and female rats showed poor sociability and social novelty preference, socially dominant behavior, and increased repetitive behavior. Serotonin receptor (5-HT(5B)) and brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) mRNAs were downregulated whereas interleukin 1 β (IL-β) and heme oxygenase 1 (HO-1) mRNAs were upregulated in the prefrontal cortex of male and female rats exposed to DE-SOA. Glutamate concentration was also increased significantly in DE-SOA-exposed male and female rats. Our results indicate that perinatal exposure to DE-SOA may induce autism-like behavior by modulating molecules such as neurological and immunological markers in rats.

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15. Wu J, Dai YC, Lan XY, Zhang HF, Bai SZ, Hu Y, Han SP, Han JS, Zhang R. Postnatal AVP treatments prevent social deficit in adolescence of valproic acid-induced rat autism model. Peptides ;2021 (Jan 7) ;137:170493.

Studies have shown that arginine-vasopressin (AVP) is an important neuropeptide regulating social behaviors. The present work aimed to detect changes in the AVP numbers and level in a valproic acid (VPA)-induced rat model of autism and the underlying mechanism of its pathogenesis. Our results indicated that infants exposed to VPA showed obviously impaired communication and repetitive behaviors with reduced number of AVP-ir cells in paraventricular nucleus (PVN) and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF). The postnatal subcutaneous injection of AVP can alleviate social preference deficits and stereotyped behaviors, accompanied with the increase of the AVP concentrations in the CSF. We concluded that AVP system was involved in etiology of VPA-induced autism-like symptoms and postnatal AVP treatment rescued the behavioral deficits,which could be a promising treatment for autism.

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16. Xiao J, Gao Y, Yu Y, Toft G, Zhang Y, Luo J, Xia Y, Chawarska K, Olsen J, Li J, Liew Z. Associations of parental birth characteristics with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) risk in their offspring : a population-based multigenerational cohort study in Denmark. Int J Epidemiol ;2021 (Jan 7)

BACKGROUND : Fetal exposure risk factors are associated with increased autism spectrum disorder (ASD) risk. New hypotheses regarding multigenerational risk for ASD have been proposed, but epidemiological evidence is largely lacking. We evaluated whether parental birth characteristics, including preterm birth and low birthweight, were associated with ASD risk in offspring. METHODS : We conducted a nationwide register-based cohort study that included 230 174 mother-child and 157 926 father-child pairs in Denmark. Logistic regression models were used to estimate odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) for offspring ASD according to parental preterm (<37 weeks) and low birthweight (<2500 g) status, with or without adjustment for certain grandmaternal sociodemographic factors. Mediation analyses were performed for selected parental and offspring health-related factors. RESULTS : Offspring of mothers or fathers with adverse birth characteristics had about 31-43% higher risk for ASD (maternal preterm birth, OR = 1.31, 95% CI= 1.12, 1.55 ; maternal low birthweight, OR = 1.35, 95% CI : 1.17,1.57 ; paternal preterm birth, OR = 1.43, 95% CI = 1.18, 1.73 ; paternal low birthweight, OR = 1.38, 95% CI= 1.13, 1.70). Parents born very preterm (<32 weeks) marked a nearly 2-fold increase in ASD risk in their children. These associations were slightly attenuated upon adjustment for grandmaternal sociodemographic factors. Mediation analyses suggested that parental social-mental and offspring perinatal factors might explain a small magnitude of the total effect observed, especially for maternal birth characteristic associations. CONCLUSIONS : Offspring of parents born with adverse characteristics had an elevated risk for ASD. Transmission of ASD risk through maternal and paternal factors should be considered in future research on ASD aetiology.

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17. Zheng ZK, Staubitz JE, Weitlauf AS, Staubitz J, Pollack M, Shibley L, Hopton M, Martin W, Swanson A, Juárez P, Warren ZE, Sarkar N. A Predictive Multimodal Framework to Alert Caregivers of Problem Behaviors for Children with ASD (PreMAC). Sensors (Basel) ;2021 (Jan 7) ;21(2)

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) impacts 1 in 54 children in the US. Two-thirds of children with ASD display problem behavior. If a caregiver can predict that a child is likely to engage in problem behavior, they may be able to take action to minimize that risk. Although experts in Applied Behavior Analysis can offer caregivers recognition and remediation strategies, there are limitations to the extent to which human prediction of problem behavior is possible without the assistance of technology. In this paper, we propose a machine learning-based predictive framework, PreMAC, that uses multimodal signals from precursors of problem behaviors to alert caregivers of impending problem behavior for children with ASD. A multimodal data capture platform, M2P3, was designed to collect multimodal training data for PreMAC. The development of PreMAC integrated a rapid functional analysis, the interview-informed synthesized contingency analysis (IISCA), for collection of training data. A feasibility study with seven 4 to 15-year-old children with ASD was conducted to investigate the tolerability and feasibility of the M2P3 platform and the accuracy of PreMAC. Results indicate that the M2P3 platform was well tolerated by the children and PreMAC could predict precursors of problem behaviors with high prediction accuracies.

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