Impact des troubles anxieux sur la qualité de vie des adolescents avec un trouble du spectre autistique sans déficience intellectuelle

Parental Perception of the Perioperative Experience for Children With Autism

Children with autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) face unique challenges when preparing for and undergoing surgery in the perioperative setting. Our goal was to describe this experience via the qualitative evaluation of interviews with parents whose children with ASD had recently undergone surgery in a tertiary medical center. Twelve parents or guardians participated in these interviews. Two independent researchers recorded interviews and analyzed transcripts. The researchers analyzed the interview transcripts using qualitative software to determine the categories of frequent answers to interview questions. Important categories that emerged included behavioral triggers (ie, response to sounds, expression of anxiety and pain), objects used for comfort, communication issues, important people, and advice. We found that children with ASD have specific and unique needs for reassurance and comfort during a perioperative visit. We created a tool, included in this article, to provide a patient-centered framework for interactions with children with ASD in the perioperative environment.

Hippocampal BDNF overexpression or microR124a silencing reduces anxiety- and autism-like behaviors in rats

MicroRNA124a (miR124a) has emerged recently as a key player for multiple neuropsychiatric disorders including depression, anxiety, alcoholism, and cocaine addiction. Although we have previously reported that miR124a and its target the brain-derived neutrophic factor (BDNF) play an important role in autism-like behaviors, the molecular and behavioral dysfunctions remain unknown. The aim of this study was to understand the effects of sustained decreases in miR124a and increases of BDNF in the dentate gyrus (DG) on neonatal isolation-induced anxiety-and autism like behaviors in rats. Here we report that lentiviral-mediated silencing of miR124a in the adult DG attenuated neonatal isolation-induced anxiety-like behavior in the elevated plus maze (EPM) and open-field (OF) tests. Also, miR124a silencing decreased autism-like phenotype in the marble burying test (MBT), self-grooming (SG), and social interaction tests. Pearson's correlations demonstrated that high levels of BDNF, a direct target of miR124a, were negatively correlated with miR124a expression. Interestingly, viral-mediated BDNF overexpression in the DG also reversed the neonatal isolation-induced anxiety-and autism like phenotypes. Collectively, these findings suggest that miR124a, through its target BDNF, may influence neonatal isolation-induced anxiety-and autism like behaviors. In conclusion, these results do support the hypothesis that miR124a in discrete hippocampal areas contributes to anxiety- and autism-like behaviors and may be involved in the neuroadaptations underlying the development of autism spectrum disorders as a persistent and lasting condition, and therefore provide a clearer mechanistic framework for understanding the physiopathology of such psychiatric illnesses.