1. Cawthorpe D. {{A 16-Year Cohort Analysis of Autism Spectrum Disorder-Associated Morbidity in a Pediatric Population}}. {Front Psychiatry};2018;9:635.
Introduction: This chapter presents the analysis of physician-diagnosed International Classification of Diseases (ICD version 9) disorders and diseases associated with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) in a 16-year pediatric cohort. Materials and Methods: The sample (n = 47,180; 62% male) consisted of children in the Alberta Health Services Calgary Health Region catchment under the age of 3 years, who received any physician-assigned ICD 9 diagnosis before the age of three between April 1993 and December 31, 1994. There were 111 females and 609 males with ASD diagnosed at any time between 1993 and 2010. The results detail the 16-year odds ratio (OR) associations of ASD diagnosis within the major classes of international classification of diseases (ICD 9) stratified by age and sex in the cohort. Further, for those suffering from ASD and any other disorder or disease, the analysis presents by sex, age, and duration, the proportions of all index physician-assigned ICD diagnoses, arising significantly before and after the index ASD diagnosis. Results: The rate of treated ASD in the cohort was 1 in 65 and the 16-year population rate of ASD was 62 per 10,000. For males with an ASD over the 16 year period, the ORs were significantly greater than the value one for 15 of the 17 main ICD classes and for 10 of the main ICD classes for females. Different age strata presented a more specific account of the main ICD class OR profiles. More specifically, 28 ICD disorders significantly preceded and 95 ICD disorders significantly followed ASD for females. Thirty-eight ICD disorders significantly preceded and 234 ICD disorders significantly followed ASD for males. Conclusions: The results largely confirm past studies focusing on more constrained sets of ASD morbidity. The age-stratified ORs gauge the order of risk in time for the cohort. The proportions of specific ICD disorders arising before and after ASD may be useful in respect to informing basic ASD research and ASD clinical management. Limitations are discussed.
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2. Cid-Samper F, Gelabert-Baldrich M, Lang B, Lorenzo-Gotor N, Ponti RD, Severijnen L, Bolognesi B, Gelpi E, Hukema RK, Botta-Orfila T, Tartaglia GG. {{An Integrative Study of Protein-RNA Condensates Identifies Scaffolding RNAs and Reveals Players in Fragile X-Associated Tremor/Ataxia Syndrome}}. {Cell Rep};2018 (Dec 18);25(12):3422-3434.e3427.
Recent evidence indicates that specific RNAs promote the formation of ribonucleoprotein condensates by acting as scaffolds for RNA-binding proteins (RBPs). We systematically investigated RNA-RBP interaction networks to understand ribonucleoprotein assembly. We found that highly contacted RNAs are structured, have long UTRs, and contain nucleotide repeat expansions. Among the RNAs with such properties, we identified the FMR1 3′ UTR that harbors CGG expansions implicated in fragile X-associated tremor/ataxia syndrome (FXTAS). We studied FMR1 binding partners in silico and in vitro and prioritized the splicing regulator TRA2A for further characterization. In a FXTAS cellular model, we validated the TRA2A-FMR1 interaction and investigated implications of its sequestration at both transcriptomic and post-transcriptomic levels. We found that TRA2A co-aggregates with FMR1 in a FXTAS mouse model and in post-mortem human samples. Our integrative study identifies key components of ribonucleoprotein aggregates, providing links to neurodegenerative disease and allowing the discovery of therapeutic targets.
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3. Corbett BA, Muscatello RA, Baldinger C. {{Comparing stress and arousal systems in response to different social contexts in children with ASD}}. {Biol Psychol};2018 (Dec 14);140:119-130.
Response to psychological stress can vary based on the extent to which the context is perceived as stressful, especially under different social conditions. The purpose of this preliminary study was to compare physiological stress (cortisol) and regulation (respiratory sinus arrhythmia, RSA) of 10-12 year old children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD, n = 31) or typical development (TD, n = 25) when exposed to two social stress protocols. The extent to which perceived emotion (affect recognition) and anxiety (state and trait) mediate the stress response was also explored. Results revealed different patterns of stress responses dependent on the type of stressor. During a friendly social interaction, both groups generally showed an adaptive, synergistic response between cortisol and RSA. In response to social evaluation, however, the ASD group did not show correlating responses between physiological systems, which was likely due to a blunted stress response to the social evaluative stressor. The ability to recognize neutral faces mediated the relationship between diagnostic group and physiological response to social evaluation, indicating that perception of threat is essential to triggering a stress response. The current study emphasizes the need to consider the important role of social context, social perception, and perceived anxiety when examining social interaction and stress.
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4. Du X, Gao X, Liu X, Shen L, Wang K, Fan Y, Sun Y, Luo X, Liu H, Wang L, Wang Y, Gong Z, Wang J, Yu Y, Li F. {{Genetic Diagnostic Evaluation of Trio-Based Whole Exome Sequencing Among Children With Diagnosed or Suspected Autism Spectrum Disorder}}. {Front Genet};2018;9:594.
Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a group of clinically and genetically heterogeneous neurodevelopmental disorders. Recent tremendous advances in the whole exome sequencing (WES) enable rapid identification of variants associated with ASD including single nucleotide variations (SNVs) and indels. To further explore genetic etiology of ASD in Chinese children with negative findings of copy number variants (CNVs), we applied WES in 80 simplex families with a single affected offspring with ASD or suspected ASD, and validated variations predicted to be damaging by Sanger sequencing. The results showed that an overall diagnostic yield of 8.8% (9.2% in the group of ASD and 6.7% in the group of suspected ASD) was observed in our cohort. Among patients with diagnosed ASD, developmental delay or intellectual disability (DD/ID) was the most common comorbidity with a diagnostic yield of 13.3%, followed by seizures (50.0%) and craniofacial anomalies (40.0%). All of identified de novo SNVs and indels among patients with ASD were loss of function (LOF) variations and were slightly more frequent among female (male vs. female: 7.3% vs. 8.5%). A total of seven presumed causative genes (CHD8, AFF2, ADNP, POGZ, SHANK3, IL1RAPL1, and PTEN) were identified in this study. In conclusion, WES is an efficient diagnostic tool for diagnosed ASD especially those with negative findings of CNVs and other neurological disorders in clinical practice, enabling early identification of disease related genes and contributing to precision and personalized medicine.
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5. Goodrich M, Armour AC, Panchapakesan K, You X, Devaney J, Knoblach S, Sullivan CAW, Herrero MJ, Gupta AR, Vaidya CJ, Kenworthy L, Corbin JG. {{PAC1R Genotype to Phenotype Correlations in Autism Spectrum Disorder}}. {Autism Res};2018 (Dec 17)
Amygdala dysfunction has been implicated in numerous neurodevelopmental disorders, including autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Previous studies in mice and humans, respectively, have linked Pac1r/PAC1R function to social behavior and PTSD-susceptibility. Based on this connection to social and emotional processing and the central role played by the amygdala in ASD, we examined a putative role for PAC1R in social deficits in ASD and determined the pattern of gene expression in the developing mouse and human amygdala. We reveal that Pac1r/PAC1R is expressed in both mouse and human amygdala from mid-neurogenesis through early postnatal stages, critical time points when altered brain trajectories are hypothesized to unfold in ASD. We further find that parents of autistic children carrying a previously identified PTSD-risk genotype (CC) report greater reciprocal social deficits compared to those carrying the non-risk GC genotype. Additionally, by exploring resting-state functional connectivity differences in a subsample of the larger behavioral sample, we find higher functional connectivity between the amygdala and right middle temporal gyrus in individuals with the CC risk genotype. Thus, using multimodal approaches, our data reveal that the amygdala-expressed PAC1R gene may be linked to severity of ASD social phenotype and possible alterations in brain connectivity, therefore potentially acting as a modifier of amygdala-related phenotypes. Autism Res 2018. (c) 2018 International Society for Autism Research, Wiley Periodicals, Inc. LAY SUMMARY: In this multimodal study across mouse and human, we examined expression patterns of Pac1r/PAC1R, a gene implicated in social behavior, and further explored whether a previously identified human PTSD-linked mutation in PAC1R can predict brain connectivity and social deficits in ASD. We find that PAC1R is highly expressed in the both the mouse and human amygdala. Furthermore, our human data suggest that PAC1R genotype is linked to severity of social deficits and functional amygdala connectivity in ASD.
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6. Huang H, Cheng S, Ding M, Wen Y, Ma M, Zhang L, Li P, Cheng B, Liang X, Liu L, Du Y, Zhao Y, Kafle OP, Han B, Zhang F. {{Integrative Analysis of Transcriptome-Wide Association Study and mRNA Expression Profiles Identifies Candidate Genes Associated With Autism Spectrum Disorders}}. {Autism Res};2018 (Dec 18)
Autism spectrum disorders (ASD) are a group of highly heritable psychiatric syndromes with high prevalence. The genetic mechanism of ASD remains elusive now. Here we conducted a transcriptome-wide association study (TWAS) of ASD. The GWAS summary data of ASD was driven from the Psychiatric Genomics Consortium (PGC) portal, totally involving 5,305 ASD cases and 5,305 controls. FUSION software was applied to the GWAS summary data for tissue-related TWAS of ASD considering brain and blood. The ASD associated genes identified by TWAS were further validated by mRNA expression profiling of ASD and the Simons Foundation for Autism Research (SFARI) Gene tool. DAVID 6.8 was used to perform gene ontology (GO) enrichment analysis of ASD associated genes identified by TWAS. TWAS identified 85 genes with TWAS P value <0.05 for ASD. Further comparing the 85 genes with the differentially expressed genes identified by mRNA expression profiling of ASD patients found 5 overlapped genes, including MUTYH (PTWAS = 0.0460, PmRNA = 0.0040), ARHGAP27 (PTWAS = 0.0100, PmRNA = 0.0016), GCA (PTWAS = 0.0480, PmRNA = 0.0063), CCDC14 (PTWAS = 0.0067, PmRNA = 0.0035), and MED15 (PTWAS = 0.0324, PmRNA = 0.0092). Gene Ontology (GO) enrichment analysis of the genes identified by TWAS detected 10 significant GO terms, such as mitochondrion (P = 0.0051), NAD or NADH binding (P = 0.0169), mitochondrial part (P = 0.0386) and 2-oxoglutarate metabolic process (P = 0.0399). In conclusion, this study identified multiple ASD associated genes and gene sets, providing novel clues for revealing the pathogenesis of ASD. Autism Res 2018. (c) 2018 International Society for Autism Research, Wiley Periodicals, Inc. LAY SUMMARY: Recent genetic studies of autism spectrum disorders (ASD) have found multiple ASD related genes. However, the results of these studies were hardly replicated with each other, providing limited clues for exploring the genetic mechanism of ASD. This study detected a group of candidate genes showing transcriptome-wide associations with ASD. These results may provide novel clues for revealing the pathogenesis of ASD. Lien vers le texte intégral (Open Access ou abonnement)
7. Kilincaslan A, Kocas S, Bozkurt S, Kaya I, Derin S, Aydin R. {{Daily living skills in children with autism spectrum disorder and intellectual disability: A comparative study from Turkey}}. {Res Dev Disabil};2018 (Dec 18);85:187-196.
BACKGROUND: Better daily living skills (DLS) are associated with increased independence and positive functional outcomes in Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). METHOD: The present study aimed to investigate daily living skills (DLS) and the associated factors in 51 children with ASD and intellectual disability (ASD group) and 51 age- and gender-matched controls with intellectual disability (ID group). The severity of the autistic symptoms was measured with the clinician-rated Childhood Autism Rating Scale and the parent-reported Autism Behavior Checklist (ABC) in all children. The mothers also completed the Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory and the Basic DLS Questionnaire. RESULTS: The ASD group scored lower than the comparison group in the total DLS score, personal hygiene, dressing, safety and interpersonal skills, despite being comparable in the parent-reported quality of life. Regression analysis of the whole sample demonstrated that the child’s age, intellectual level, speech level, autism symptom severity and the monthly household income were independent correlates of the total DLS. Exploratory analyses for each group revealed differential effects of these variables: in the ASD group; a higher speech level and monthly income, while in the ID group; an older age, a higher intellectual level and monthly income and a lower ABC score emerged as significant predictors of higher DLS. CONCLUSIONS: Deficient DLS in Turkish children with ASD, given their IQ, suggest that lower level of adaptive skills is inherent in ASD, rather than culture-specific to US and Western Europe.
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8. LeBarton ES, Landa RJ. {{Infant motor skill predicts later expressive language and autism spectrum disorder diagnosis}}. {Infant Behav Dev};2018 (Dec 14);54:37-47.
Motor difficulties may be an early Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) risk indicator and may predict subsequent expressive language skills. Further understanding of motor functioning in the first year of life in children with ASD is needed. We examined motor skills in 6-month-olds (n = 140) at high and low familial risk for ASD using the Peabody Developmental Motor Scales (Grasping, Visual-Motor Integration, and Stationary subscales). In Study 1, motor skill at 6 months predicted ASD status at 24-36 months; ASD was associated with poorer infant motor skills. In Study 2, motor skill at 6 months predicted expressive language at 30 and 36 months. Findings provide evidence that vulnerability in motor function early in development is present in ASD. Findings highlight the importance of developmental monitoring in high-risk infants and possible cascading effects of early disruption in motor development.
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9. Li C, Wong NK, Sum RKW, Yu CW. {{Preservice Teachers’ Mindfulness and Attitudes Toward Students With Autism Spectrum Disorder: The Role of Basic Psychological Needs Satisfaction}}. {Adapt Phys Activ Q};2018 (Dec 16):1-14.
Teachers’ attitudes toward students with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are vital predictors of successful inclusive education. Guided by the basic psychological needs theory, this cross-sectional survey aimed to examine the relationships among mindfulness, basic psychological needs satisfaction (basic psychological needs theory-based construct), and attitudes toward including students with ASD among preservice physical education (PE) teachers. A multisection survey form was administered to 211 preservice PE teachers. Path analysis indicated that mindfulness and basic psychological needs satisfaction positively predicted attitudes toward the inclusion of students with ASD. In addition, mindfulness had an indirect effect on attitudes through basic psychological needs satisfaction. The findings provide a preliminary direction for the development of a mindfulness-based intervention program for enhancing preservice PE teachers’ attitudes toward the inclusion of students with ASD. The findings also suggest that the basic psychological needs theory is a useful framework for understanding the relationship between mindfulness and attitudes. Future longitudinal or intervention studies are needed to examine whether the findings can be replicated.
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10. Liu F, Horton-Sparks K, Hull V, Li RW, Martinez-Cerdeno V. {{The valproic acid rat model of autism presents with gut bacterial dysbiosis similar to that in human autism}}. {Mol Autism};2018;9:61.
Background: Gut microbiota has the capacity to impact the regular function of the brain, which can in turn affect the composition of microbiota. Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) patients suffer from gastrointestinal problems and experience changes in gut microbiota; however, it is not yet clear whether the change in the microbiota associated with ASD is a cause or a consequence of the disease. Methods: We have investigated the species richness and microbial composition in a valproic acid (VPA)-induced rat model autism. Fecal samples from the rectum were collected at necropsy, microbial total DNA was extracted, 16 rRNA genes sequenced using Illumina, and the global microbial co-occurrence network was constructed using a random matrix theory-based pipeline. Collected rat microbiome data were compared to available data derived from cases of autism. Results: We found that VPA administration during pregnancy reduced fecal microbial richness, changed the gut microbial composition, and altered the metabolite potential of the fecal microbial community in a pattern similar to that seen in patients with ASD. However, the global network property and network composition as well as microbial co-occurrence patterns were largely preserved in the offspring of rats exposed to prenatal administration of VPA. Conclusions: Our data on the microbiota of the VPA rat model of autism indicate that this model, in addition to behaviorally and anatomically mimicking the autistic brain as previously shown, also mimics the microbiome features of autism, making it one of the best-suited rodent models for the study of autism and ASD.
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11. McPartland JC. {{Autism’s existential crisis: a reflection on Livingston et al. (2018)}}. {J Child Psychol Psychiatry};2019 (Jan);60(1):111-113.
Livingston and colleagues present an empirical investigation of the compensatory framework describing the autism clinical phenotype as the sum of intrinsic neurocognitive deficits and compensatory mechanisms. This commentary highlights several methodologic features of the study that are pertinent to interpretation and reflects on the reduction of social behavior to cognitive processes. Taken together, the notion of compensation calls into question the validity and utility of the current behavioral diagnosis of autism.
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12. Muller RA, Reiter MA. {{Brain changes in adolescence-it is about time to get serious in autism spectrum disorder research}}. {Autism Res};2018 (Dec 16)
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13. Rabin SJ, Bamberger E, Mor-Snir I, Feldman R, Golan O. {{Parent-Adolescent Reciprocity in a Conflictual Situation Predicts Peer Interaction in Adolescents With ASD}}. {Autism Res};2018 (Dec 18)
Parent-child reciprocity plays a signicant role in shaping children’s social interaction skills. The development of conflict management skills throughout childhood and adolescence impacts the individual’s social adjustment. The increase in conflictual interaction with one’s parents during adolescence affects the transformation of parent-adolescent interaction into a more mutual, equal relationship. Adolescents with ASD and their parents may struggle in this type of interaction due to the adolescents’ social and regulatory impairments, in addition to their dependence on their parents’ involvement and guidance. The current study aimed to evaluate differences in the way adolescents with and without ASD interact with their parents in a conflictual situation. In addition, the association between parent-adolescent reciprocity and the adolescent’s social interaction with an unfamiliar peer was examined in the ASD group. Thirty adolescents with ASD and their parents and 30 typically developing (TD) controls were assessed during a standardized conflict interaction. In addition, adolescents with ASD took part in a conversation with an unfamiliar peer. Interactions were videotaped and coded. Results revealed that during the conflictual interaction, compared to their TD peers, adolescents with ASD were more involved in the conversation and less withdrawn from the parent, while their parents were more sensitive and less intrusive toward them. Parent-adolescent reciprocity was poorer in the ASD (compared to the TD) dyad and was positively associated with the adolescents’ social-conversational skills with a peer. These findings emphasize the different developmental trajectory parent-adolescent relationship takes in adolescents with ASD, and its impact on the adolescent’s social skills. Autism Res 2018. (c) 2018 International Society for Autism Research, Wiley Periodicals, Inc. LAY SUMMARY: The development of conflict management skills throughout childhood and adolescence impacts the individual’s social adjustment. The ability of parents to engage in reciprocal social interaction with the children plays a significant role in shaping children’s social interaction skills with peers and with other adults. The transition to adolescence is characterized by an increase in conflictual interaction with one’s parents, which transforms the interaction between adolescents and their parents into a more mutual, equal relationship. Adolescents with ASD and their parents may struggle in this type of interaction due to the adolescents’ social and emotional difficulties, and their dependence on their parents’ involvement and guidance. However, the nature of parent-adolescent interaction, and particularly conflict management has rarely been studied. This study evaluated the way parents and their adolescents with ASD interact in a conflictual conversation, compared to parents and their typically developing adolescents. In addition, we examined how this type of interaction associated with adolescents’ social conversation skills with a peer, in the ASD group. A videotaped interaction between adolescents and their parents indicated that parents and their adolescents with ASD engaged more positively in the conflict, but were less reciprocal with each other. In addition, higher reciprocity among parents and their adolescents with ASD was associated with better conversation skills with an unfamiliar peer. These findings demonstrate the different ways parent-adolescent relationships evolve in families affected by ASD, and the important role parents have in shaping the adolescent’s social communication skills.
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14. Roberts MY, Stern Y, Hampton LH, Grauzer JM, Miller A, Levin A, Kornfeld B, Davis MM, Kaat A, Estabrook R. {{Beyond pass-fail: Examining the potential utility of two thresholds in the autism screening process}}. {Autism Res};2018 (Dec 17)
Access to early intervention as early in development as possible is critical to maximizing long-term outcomes for children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). However, despite the fact that ASD can be reliably diagnosed by 24 months, the average age of diagnosis is 2 years later. Waitlists for specialized developmental evaluations are one barrier to early diagnosis. The purpose of this study was to examine one potential approach to reducing wait time for an ASD diagnostic evaluation by examining the utility of using more than one threshold for an autism screening tool, the Screening Tool for Autism in Toddlers and Young Children (STAT). Participants included 171 children between 24 and 36 months of age who received a medical diagnostic evaluation through Illinois’ Early Intervention Program. This study directly compared the performance of the STAT when scored: (a) using the original single threshold, (b) using seven equally weighted items using a single threshold, and (c) using all items differentially weighted based on how strongly that item predicts a later ASD diagnosis. In addition, this study explored the potential utility of using two thresholds rather than a single threshold for each scoring method. Results of this study suggest that using a two-threshold logistic regression method has potential psychometric advantages over a single threshold and categorical scoring. Using this approach may reduce the wait time for specialty ASD diagnostic evaluations by maximizing true negatives and true positives, such that specialty evaluations may be reserved for those cases that are more ambiguous or more complex. Autism Res 2018. (c) 2018 International Society for Autism Research, Wiley Periodicals, Inc. LAY SUMMARY: This study examined the benefits of using two versus one cutoff score when screening for autism. Results indicate that having two scores and weighting test items based on predictive association with an autism diagnosis is better than using a single score and weighting each item equally. Using such an approach may reduce the wait time for specialty autism diagnostic evaluations, such that specialty evaluations may be reserved for those cases that are more ambiguous or more complex.
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15. Rowley PA, Guerrero-Gonzalez J, Alexander AL, Yu JJ. {{Convergent microstructural brain changes across genetic models of autism spectrum disorder-A pilot study}}. {Psychiatry Res Neuroimaging};2018 (Dec 8);283:83-91.
Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a complex and genetically heterogeneous neuropsychiatric disease affecting as many as 1 in 68 children. Large scale genetic sequencing of individuals along the autism spectrum has uncovered several genetic risk factors for ASD; however, understanding how, and to what extent, individual genes contribute to the overall disease phenotype remains unclear. Neuroimaging studies of ASD have revealed a wide spectrum of structural and functional perturbations that are thought to reflect, in part, the complex genetic heterogeneity underpinning ASD. These perturbations, in both preclinical models and clinical patients, were identified in preclinical genetic models and ASD patients when compared to control populations; however, few studies have directly explored intrinsic differences between the models themselves. To better understand the degree and extent to which individual genes associated with ASD differ in their contribution to global measures of white matter microstructure, diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) was acquired from three novel rat genetic models of ASD (Fmr1, Nrxn1, and Pten) and DTI parameters of fractional anisotropy, mean, axial, and radial diffusivity were measured. Subsequent whole-brain voxel-wise analysis comparing each genetic model to each other (Fmr1:Nrxn1; Fmr1:Pten; Nrxn1:Pten) identified no significant differences in any comparison for all diffusion parameters assessed (FA, AD, MD, RD).
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16. Sayad A, Omrani MD, Fallah H, Taheri M, Ghafouri-Fard S. {{Aberrant Expression of Long Non-coding RNAs in Peripheral Blood of Autistic Patients}}. {J Mol Neurosci};2018 (Dec 18)
Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) constitute a large proportion of human transcriptome and are involved in fundamental aspects of neurodevelopment. In the present study, we evaluated expression levels of three lncRNAs, namely, Nuclear Paraspeckle Assembly Transcript 1 (NEAT1), p21-associated ncRNA DNA damage-activated (PANDA), and taurine-upregulated gene 1 (TUG1), in peripheral blood of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) patients compared with those in healthy subjects. We found a significant upregulation of NEAT1 and TUG1 in ASD patients. In addition, relative expressions of the pairs of lncRNAs were significantly correlated in both patients and healthy subjects. However, expressions of these lncRNAs were not correlated with age of study participants. The present study provides further evidences for dysregulation of lncRNAs in ASD patients.
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17. Sundelin HE, Stephansson O, Hultman CM, Ludvigsson JF. {{Pregnancy outcomes in women with autism: a nationwide population-based cohort study}}. {Clin Epidemiol};2018;10:1817-1826.
Background: The consequences of autism in pregnancy outcomes have not been explored before, although it is of crucial importance because of the frequent comorbidities and medication in this group of women. Objectives: To estimate the risk of adverse pregnancy outcomes in women diagnosed with autism. Design: Nationwide population-based cohort study. Setting: Sweden. Participants: Singleton births identified in the Swedish Medical Birth Registry, 2006-2014. A total of 2,198 births to women diagnosed with autism registered in the Swedish National Patient Registry were compared to 877,742 singleton births to women without such a diagnosis. Main outcome and measures: Preterm delivery. Secondary measures were cesarean delivery (emergency and elective), Apgar score <7 at 5 minutes, small for gestational age, large for gestational age, stillbirth, gestational diabetes, and preeclampsia. ORs were calculated through logistic regression, adjusted for maternal age at delivery, maternal country of birth, smoking, maternal body mass index, parity, calendar year of birth, and psychotropic and antiepileptic medication during pregnancy. Results: Women with autism were at increased risk of preterm birth (OR=1.30; 95% CI=1.10-1.54), especially medically indicated preterm birth (OR=1.41; 95% CI=1.08-1.82), but not with spontaneous preterm birth. Maternal autism was also associated with an increased risk of elective cesarean delivery (OR=1.44; 95% CI=1.25-1.66) and preeclampsia (OR=1.34; 95% CI=1.08-1.66), but not with emergency cesarean delivery, low Apgar score (<7), large for gestational age, gestational diabetes, and stillbirth. In women with medication during pregnancy, there was no increased risk of adverse pregnancy outcome except for induction of delivery (OR=1.33; 95% CI=1.14-1.55). Conclusion and relevance: Maternal autism is associated with preterm birth, likely due to an increased frequency of medically indicated preterm births, but also with other adverse pregnancy outcomes, suggesting a need for extra surveillance during prenatal care. Lien vers le texte intégral (Open Access ou abonnement)
18. Wang L, Cai Y, Fan X. {{Metformin Administration During Early Postnatal Life Rescues Autistic-Like Behaviors in the BTBR T+ Itpr3tf/J Mouse Model of Autism}}. {Front Behav Neurosci};2018;12:290.
Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental disability characterized by impaired social interactions, stereotypical repetitive behavior and restricted interests. Although the global incidence of ASD has increased over time, the etiology of ASD is poorly understood, and there is no effective pharmacological intervention for treating ASD. Recent studies have suggested that metformin has the potential to treat ASD. Thus, in this study, we assessed the therapeutic effects of early metformin treatment in a BTBR T+ Itpr3tf/J (BTBR) mouse model of ASD. We observed that early metformin administration significantly reversed social approach deficits, attenuated repetitive grooming and reduced marble burying in BTBR mice. Metformin did not change the general locomotor activity or anxiety-like behavior in both BTBR and C57BL/6J (B6) mice. Our findings suggest that early metformin treatment may have beneficial effects on ameliorating behavioral deficits in ASD.
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19. Yamashiro A, Sorcinelli A, Rahman T, Elbogen R, Curtin S, Vouloumanos A. {{Shifting Preferences for Primate Faces in Neurotypical Infants and Infants Later Diagnosed With ASD}}. {Autism Res};2018 (Dec 18)
Infants look at others’ faces to gather social information. Newborns look equally at human and monkey faces but prefer human faces by 1 month, helping them learn to communicate and interact with others. Infants later diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) look at human faces less than neurotypical infants, which may underlie some deficits in social-communication later in life. Here, we asked whether infants later diagnosed with ASD differ in their preferences for both human and nonhuman primate faces compared to neurotypical infants over their first 2 years of life. We compare infants’ relative looking times to human or monkey faces paired with nonface controls (Experiment 1) and infants’ total looking times to pairs of human and monkey faces (Experiment 2). Across two experiments, we find that between 6 and 18 months, infants later diagnosed with ASD show a greater downturn (decrease after an initial increase) in looking at both primate faces than neurotypical infants. A decrease in attention to primate faces may partly underlie the social-communicative difficulties in children with ASD and could reveal how early perceptual experiences with faces affect development. Autism Res 2018. (c) 2018 International Society for Autism Research, Wiley Periodicals, Inc. LAY SUMMARY: Looking at faces helps infants learn to interact with others. Infants look equally at human and monkey faces at birth but prefer human faces by 1 month. Infants later diagnosed with ASD who show deficits in social-communication look at human faces less than neurotypical infants. We find that a downturn (decline after an initial increase) in attention to both human and monkey faces between 6 and 18 months may partly underlie the social-communicative difficulties in children with ASD.