Anxiety and Depression in Adults with Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis

Adults with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are thought to be at disproportionate risk of developing mental health comorbidities, with anxiety and depression being considered most prominent amongst these. Yet, no systematic review has been carried out to date to examine rates of both anxiety and depression focusing specifically on adults with ASD. This systematic review and meta-analysis examined the rates of anxiety and depression in adults with ASD and the impact of factors such as assessment methods and presence of comorbid intellectual disability (ID) diagnosis on estimated prevalence rates. Electronic database searches for studies published between January 2000 and September 2017 identified a total of 35 studies, including 30 studies measuring anxiety (n = 26 070; mean age = 30.9, s.d. = 6.2 years) and 29 studies measuring depression (n = 26 117; mean age = 31.1, s.d. = 6.8 years). The pooled estimation of current and lifetime prevalence for adults with ASD were 27% and 42% for any anxiety disorder, and 23% and 37% for depressive disorder. Further analyses revealed that the use of questionnaire measures and the presence of ID may significantly influence estimates of prevalence. The current literature suffers from a high degree of heterogeneity in study method and an overreliance on clinical samples. These results highlight the importance of community-based studies and the identification and inclusion of well-characterized samples to reduce heterogeneity and bias in estimates of prevalence for comorbidity in adults with ASD and other populations with complex psychiatric presentations

An Atlas for Schistosoma mansoni Organs and Life-Cycle Stages Using Cell Type-Specific Markers and Confocal Microscopy

Schistosomiasis (bilharzia) is a tropical disease caused by trematode parasites (Schistosoma) that affects hundreds of millions of people in the developing world. Currently only a single drug (praziquantel) is available to treat this disease, highlighting the importance of developing new techniques to study Schistosoma. While molecular advances, including RNA interference and the availability of complete genome sequences for two Schistosoma species, will help to revolutionize studies of these animals, an array of tools for visualizing the consequences of experimental perturbations on tissue integrity and development needs to be made widely available. To this end, we screened a battery of commercially available stains, antibodies and fluorescently labeled lectins, many of which have not been described previously for analyzing schistosomes, for their ability to label various cell and tissue types in the cercarial stage of S. mansoni. This analysis uncovered more than 20 new markers that label most cercarial tissues, including the tegument, the musculature, the protonephridia, the secretory system and the nervous system. Using these markers we present a high-resolution visual depiction of cercarial anatomy. Examining the effectiveness of a subset of these markers in S. mansoni adults and miracidia, we demonstrate the value of these tools for labeling tissues in a variety of life-cycle stages. The methodologies described here will facilitate functional analyses aimed at understanding fundamental biological processes in these parasites

Wild bitter gourd improves metabolic syndrome: A preliminary dietary supplementation trial

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Bitter gourd (<it>Momordica charantia </it>L.) is a common tropical vegetable that has been used in traditional or folk medicine to treat diabetes. Wild bitter gourd (WBG) ameliorated metabolic syndrome (MetS) in animal models. We aimed to preliminarily evaluate the effect of WBG supplementation on MetS in Taiwanese adults.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>A preliminary open-label uncontrolled supplementation trial was conducted in eligible fulfilled the diagnosis of MetS from May 2008 to April 2009. A total of 42 eligible (21 men and 21 women) with a mean age of 45.7 ± 11.4 years (23 to 63 years) were supplemented with 4.8 gram lyophilized WBG powder in capsules daily for three months and were checked for MetS at enrollment and follow-up monthly. After supplementation was ceased, the participants were continually checked for MetS monthly over an additional three-month period. MetS incidence rate were analyzed using repeated-measures generalized linear mixed models according to the intention-to-treat principle.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>After adjusting for sex and age, the MetS incidence rate (standard error, <it>p </it>value) decreased by 7.1% (3.7%, 0.920), 9.5% (4.3%, 0.451), 19.0% (5.7%, 0.021), 16.7% (5.4%, 0.047), 11.9% (4.7%, 0.229) and 11.9% (4.7%, 0.229) at visit 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7 compared to that at baseline (visit 1), respectively. The decrease in incidence rate was highest at the end of the three-month supplementation period and it was significantly different from that at baseline (<it>p </it>= 0.021). The difference remained significant at end of the 4th month (one month after the cessation of supplementation) (<it>p </it>= 0.047) but the effect diminished at the 5th and 6th months after baseline. The waist circumference also significantly decreased after the supplementation (<it>p </it>< 0.05). The WBG supplementation was generally well-tolerated.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>This is the first report to show that WBG improved MetS in human which provides a firm base for further randomized controlled trials to evaluate the efficacy of WBG supplementation.</p

Association of candy consumption with body weight measures, other health risk factors for cardiovascular disease, and diet quality in US children and adolescents: NHANES 1999–2004

Objective : The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of total, chocolate, or sugar candy consumption on intakes of total energy, fat, and added sugars; diet quality; weight/adiposity parameters; and risk factors for cardiovascular disease in children 2&#x2013;13 years of age (n=7,049) and adolescents 14&#x2013;18 years (n=4,132) participating in the 1999&#x2013;2004 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. Methods : Twenty-four hour dietary recalls were used to determine intake. Diet quality was determined using the Healthy Eating Index-2005 (HEI-2005). Covariate-adjusted means, standard errors, and prevalence rates were determined for each candy consumption group. Odds ratios were used to determine the likelihood of associations with weight status and diet quality. Results : In younger children, total, chocolate, and sugar candy consumption was 11.4 g&#x00B1;1.61, 4.8 g&#x00B1;0.35, and 6.6 g&#x00B1;0.46, respectively. In adolescents, total, chocolate, and sugar candy consumption was 13.0 g&#x00B1;0.87, 7.0 g&#x00B1;0.56, and 5.9 g&#x00B1;0.56, respectively. Total candy consumers had higher intakes of total energy (2248.9 kcals&#x00B1;26.8 vs 1993.1 kcals&#x00B1;15.1, p&#60;0.0001) and added sugars (27.7 g&#x00B1;0.44 vs 23.4 g&#x00B1;0.38, p&#60;0.0001) than non-consumers. Mean HEI-2005 score was not different in total candy and sugar candy consumers as compared to non-consumers, but was significantly lower in chocolate candy consumers (46.7&#x00B1;0.8 vs 48.3&#x00B1;0.4, p&#x200A;=&#x200A;0.0337). Weight, body mass index (BMI), waist circumference, percentiles/z-score for weight-for-age and BMI-for-age were lower for candy consumers as compared to non-consumers. Candy consumers were 22 and 26%, respectively, less likely to be overweight and obese than non-candy consumers. Blood pressure, blood lipid levels, and cardiovascular risk factors were not different between total, chocolate, and sugar candy consumers and non-consumers (except that sugar candy consumers had lower C-reactive protein levels than non-consumers). Conclusion : This study suggests that candy consumption did not adversely affect health risk markers in children and adolescents

Characterization of Schistosome Tegumental Alkaline Phosphatase (SmAP)

Schistosomes are parasitic platyhelminths that currently infect over 200 million people globally. The parasites can live for years in a putatively hostile environment - the blood of vertebrates. We have hypothesized that the unusual schistosome tegument (outer-covering) plays a role in protecting parasites in the blood; by impeding host immunological signaling pathways we suggest that tegumental molecules help create an immunologically privileged environment for schistosomes. In this work, we clone and characterize a schistosome alkaline phosphatase (SmAP), a predicted ∼60 kDa glycoprotein that has high sequence conservation with members of the alkaline phosphatase protein family. The SmAP gene is most highly expressed in intravascular parasite life stages. Using immunofluorescence and immuno-electron microscopy, we confirm that SmAP is expressed at the host/parasite interface and in internal tissues. The ability of living parasites to cleave exogenous adenosine monophosphate (AMP) and generate adenosine is very largely abolished when SmAP gene expression is suppressed following RNAi treatment targeting the gene. These results lend support to the hypothesis that schistosome surface enzymes such as SmAP could dampen host immune responses against the parasites by generating immunosuppressants such as adenosine to promote their survival. This notion does not rule out other potential functions for the adenosine generated e.g. in parasite nutrition

Efficacy of an Educational Material on Second Primary Cancer Screening Practice for Cancer Survivors: A Randomized Controlled Trial

<div><h3>Background</h3><p>Cancer surivors have limited knowledge about second primary cancer (SPC) screening and suboptimal rates of completion of screening practices for SPC. Our objective was to test the efficacy of an educational material on the knowledge, attitudes, and screening practices for SPC among cancer survivors.</p> <h3>Methods</h3><p>Randomized, controlled trial among 326 cancer survivors from 6 oncology care outpatient clinics in Korea. Patients were randomized to an intervention or an attention control group. The intervention was a photo-novel, culturally tailored to increase knowledge about SPC screening. Knowledge and attitudes regarding SPC screening were assessed two weeks after the intervention, and screening practices were assessed after one year.</p> <h3>Results</h3><p>At two weeks post-intervention, the average knowledge score was significantly higher in the intervention compared to the control group (0.81 vs. 0.75, P<0.01), with no significant difference in their attitude scores (2.64 vs. 2.57, P = 0.18). After 1 year of follow-up, the completion rate of all appropriate cancer screening was 47.2% in both intervention and control groups.</p> <h3>Conclusion</h3><p>While the educatinal material was effective for increasing knowledge of SPC screening, it did not promote cancer screening practice among cancer survivors. More effective interventions are needed to increase SPC screening rates in this population.</p> <h3>Trial Registration</h3><p>ClinicalTrial.gov <a href="http://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT00948337">NCT00948337</a></p> </div

Overactivation of Notch1 Signaling Induces Ectopic Hair Cells in the Mouse Inner Ear in an Age-Dependent Manner

Background: During mouse inner ear development, Notch1 signaling first specifies sensory progenitors, and subsequently controls progenitors to further differentiate into either hair cells (HCs) or supporting cells (SCs). Overactivation of NICD (Notch1 intracellular domain) at early embryonic stages leads to ectopic HC formation. However, it remains unclear whether such an effect can be elicited at later embryonic or postnatal stages, which has important implications in mouse HC regeneration by reactivation of Notch1 signaling. Methodology/Principal Findings: We performed comprehensive in vivo inducible overactivation of NICD at various developmental stages. In CAG CreER+; Rosa26-NICD loxp/+ mice, tamoxifen treatment at embryonic day 10.5 (E10.5) generated ectopic HCs in the non-sensory regions in both utricle and cochlea, whereas ectopic HCs only appeared in the utricle when tamoxifen was given at E13. When tamoxifen was injected at postnatal day 0 (P0) and P1, no ectopic HCs were observed in either utricle or cochlea. Interestingly, Notch1 signaling induced new HCs in a non-cell-autonomous manner, because the new HCs did not express NICD. Adjacent to the new HCs were cells expressing the SC marker Sox10 (either NICD+ or NICDnegative). Conclusions/Significance: Our data demonstrate that the developmental stage determines responsiveness of embryonic otic precursors and neonatal non-sensory epithelial cells to NICD overactivation, and that Notch 1 signaling in the wild type, postnatal inner ear is not sufficient for generating new HCs. Thus, our genetic mouse model is suitable to test additiona

Use of Genomic DNA as an Indirect Reference for Identifying Gender-Associated Transcripts in Morphologically Identical, but Chromosomally Distinct, Schistosoma mansoni Cercariae

BACKGROUND: The use of DNA microarray technology to study global Schistosoma gene expression has led to the rapid identification of novel biological processes, pathways or associations. Implementation of standardized DNA microarray protocols across laboratories would assist maximal interpretation of generated datasets and extend productive application of this technology. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Utilizing a new Schistosoma mansoni oligonucleotide DNA microarray composed of 37,632 elements, we show that schistosome genomic DNA (gDNA) hybridizes with less variation compared to complex mixed pools of S. mansoni cDNA material (R = 0.993 for gDNA compared to R = 0.956 for cDNA during ‘self versus self’ hybridizations). Furthermore, these effects are species-specific, with S. japonicum or Mus musculus gDNA failing to bind significantly to S. mansoni oligonucleotide DNA microarrays (e.g R = 0.350 when S. mansoni gDNA is co-hybridized with S. japonicum gDNA). Increased median fluorescent intensities (209.9) were also observed for DNA microarray elements hybridized with S. mansoni gDNA compared to complex mixed pools of S. mansoni cDNA (112.2). Exploiting these valuable characteristics, S. mansoni gDNA was used in two-channel DNA microarray hybridization experiments as a common reference for indirect identification of gender-associated transcripts in cercariae, a schistosome life-stage in which there is no overt sexual dimorphism. This led to the identification of 2,648 gender-associated transcripts. When compared to the 780 gender-associated transcripts identified by hybridization experiments utilizing a two-channel direct method (co-hybridization of male and female cercariae cDNA), indirect methods using gDNA were far superior in identifying greater quantities of differentially expressed transcripts. Interestingly, both methods identified a concordant subset of 188 male-associated and 156 female-associated cercarial transcripts, respectively. Gene ontology classification of these differentially expressed transcripts revealed a greater diversity of categories in male cercariae. Quantitative real-time PCR analysis confirmed the DNA microarray results and supported the reliability of this platform for identifying gender-associated transcripts. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: Schistosome gDNA displays characteristics highly suitable for the comparison of two-channel DNA microarray results obtained from experiments conducted independently across laboratories. The schistosome transcripts identified here demonstrate, for the first time, that gender-associated patterns of expression are already well established in the morphologically identical, but chromosomally distinct, cercariae stage

Vasa-Like DEAD-Box RNA Helicases of Schistosoma mansoni

Genome sequences are available for the human blood flukes, Schistosoma japonicum, S. mansoni and S. haematobium. Functional genomic approaches could aid in identifying the role and importance of these newly described schistosome genes. Transgenesis is established for functional genomics in model species, which can lead to gain- or loss-of-functions, facilitate vector-based RNA interference, and represents an effective forward genetics tool for insertional mutagenesis screens. Progress toward routine transgenesis in schistosomes might be expedited if germ cells could be reliably localized in cultured schistosomes. Vasa, a member of the ATP-dependent DEAD-box RNA helicase family, is a prototypic marker of primordial germ cells and the germ line in the Metazoa. Using bioinformatics, 33 putative DEAD-box RNA helicases exhibiting conserved motifs that characterize helicases of this family were identified in the S. mansoni genome. Moreover, three of the helicases exhibited vasa-like sequences; phylogenetic analysis confirmed the three vasa-like genes—termed Smvlg1, Smvlg2, and Smvlg3—were members of the Vasa/PL10 DEAD-box subfamily. Transcripts encoding Smvlg1, Smvlg2, and Smvlg3 were cloned from cDNAs from mixed sex adult worms, and quantitative real time PCR revealed their presence in developmental stages of S. mansoni with elevated expression in sporocysts, adult females, eggs, and miracidia, with strikingly high expression in the undeveloped egg. Whole mount in situ hybridization (WISH) analysis revealed that Smvlg1, Smvlg2 and Smvlg3 were transcribed in the posterior ovary where the oocytes mature. Germ cell specific expression of schistosome vasa-like genes should provide an informative landmark for germ line transgenesis of schistosomes, etiologic agents of major neglected tropical diseases