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Liang S, Zhao Y, Liu X, Wang Y, Yang H, Zhuo D, Fan F, Guo M, Luo G, Fan Y, Zhang L, Lv X, Chen X, Li SS, Jin X. Prenatal progesterone treatment modulates fetal brain transcriptome and impacts adult offspring behavior in mice. Physiol Behav 2024; 281:114549. [PMID: 38604593 DOI: 10.1016/j.physbeh.2024.114549] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/12/2023] [Revised: 03/27/2024] [Accepted: 04/08/2024] [Indexed: 04/13/2024]
Abstract
Maternal exposure to elevated levels of steroid hormones during pregnancy is associated with the development of chronic conditions in offspring that manifest in adulthood. However, the effects of progesterone (P4) administration during early pregnancy on fetal development and subsequent offspring behavior remain poorly understood. In this study, we aimed to investigate the effects of P4 treatment during early pregnancy on the transcript abundance in the fetal brain and assess the behavioral consequences in the offspring during adolescence and adulthood. Using RNA-seq analysis, we examined the impact of P4 treatment on the fetal brain transcriptome in a dosage-dependent manner. Our results revealed differential regulation of genes involved in neurotransmitter transport, synaptic transmission, and transcriptional regulation. Specifically, we observed bidirectional regulation of transcription factors (TFs) by P4 at different doses, highlighting the critical role of these TFs in neurodevelopment. To assess behavioral outcomes, we conducted open field and elevated plus maze tests. Offspring treated with low-dose P4 (LP4) displayed increased exploratory behavior during both adolescence and adulthood. In contrast, the high-dose P4 (HP4) group exhibited impaired exploration and heightened anxiety-like behaviors compared to the control mice. Moreover, in a novel object recognition test, HP4-treated offspring demonstrated impaired object recognition memory during both developmental stages. Additionally, both LP4 and HP4 groups showed reduced social interaction in the three-chamber test. These results suggest that prenatal exposure to P4 exerts a notable influence on the expression of genes associated with neurodevelopment and may induce alterations in behavioral characteristics in progeny, highlighting the need to monitor progesterone levels during pregnancy for long-term impacts on fetal brain development and behavior.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shuang Liang
- Tianjin Central Hospital of Gynecology Obstetrics, Tianjin, China
| | - Ying Zhao
- School of Medicine, Nankai University, Tianjin, China
| | - Xiuwei Liu
- Tianjin Central Hospital of Gynecology Obstetrics, Tianjin, China
| | - Yan Wang
- Jiujiang Maternal and Child Health Hospital, China
| | | | - Donghai Zhuo
- School of Medicine, Nankai University, Tianjin, China
| | - Feifei Fan
- School of Medicine, Nankai University, Tianjin, China
| | - Miao Guo
- School of Medicine, Nankai University, Tianjin, China
| | - Gan Luo
- Tianjin Medical University, Tianjin, China
| | - Yonggang Fan
- School of Medicine, Nankai University, Tianjin, China
| | - Lingzhu Zhang
- School of Medicine, Nankai University, Tianjin, China
| | - Xinxin Lv
- School of Medicine, Nankai University, Tianjin, China
| | - Xu Chen
- School of Medicine, Nankai University, Tianjin, China; Tianjin Central Hospital of Gynecology Obstetrics, Tianjin, China; Tianjin Key Laboratory of Human Development and Reproductive Regulation, Tianjin, China
| | - Shan-Shan Li
- School of Medicine, Nankai University, Tianjin, China
| | - Xin Jin
- School of Medicine, Nankai University, Tianjin, China; Tianjin Central Hospital of Gynecology Obstetrics, Tianjin, China; Tianjin Key Laboratory of Human Development and Reproductive Regulation, Tianjin, China.
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Mkhitaryan M, Avetisyan T, Mkhoyan A, Avetisyan L, Yenkoyan K. A case-control study on pre-, peri-, and neonatal risk factors associated with autism spectrum disorder among Armenian children. Sci Rep 2024; 14:12308. [PMID: 38811666 PMCID: PMC11137108 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-024-63240-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/02/2024] [Accepted: 05/27/2024] [Indexed: 05/31/2024] Open
Abstract
We aimed to investigate the role of pre-, peri- and neonatal risk factors in the development of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) among Armenian children with the goal of detecting and addressing modifiable risk factors to reduce ASD incidence. For this purpose a retrospective case-control study using a random proportional sample of Armenian children with ASD to assess associations between various factors and ASD was conducted. The study was approved by the local ethical committee, and parental written consent was obtained. A total of 168 children with ASD and 329 controls were included in the analysis. Multivariable logistic regression analysis revealed that male gender, maternal weight gain, use of MgB6, self-reported stress during the pregnancy, pregnancy with complications, as well as use of labor-inducing drugs were associated with a significant increase in the odds of ASD, whereas Duphaston use during pregnancy, the longer interpregnancy interval and birth height were associated with decreased odds of ASD. These findings are pertinent as many identified factors may be preventable or modifiable, underscoring the importance of timely and appropriate public health strategies aimed at disease prevention in pregnant women to reduce ASD incidence.
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Affiliation(s)
- Meri Mkhitaryan
- Neuroscience Laboratory, Cobrain Center, Yerevan State Medical University Named After M. Heratsi, 0025, Yerevan, Armenia
| | - Tamara Avetisyan
- Cobrain Center, Yerevan State Medical University Named After M. Heratsi, 0025, Yerevan, Armenia
- Muratsan University Hospital Complex, Yerevan State Medical University Named After M. Heratsi, 0075, Yerevan, Armenia
| | - Anna Mkhoyan
- Department of Infectious Diseases, Yerevan State Medical University Named After M. Heratsi, 0025, Yerevan, Armenia
| | - Larisa Avetisyan
- Cobrain Center, Yerevan State Medical University Named After M. Heratsi, 0025, Yerevan, Armenia
- Department of Hygiene, Yerevan State Medical University Named After M. Heratsi, 0025, Yerevan, Armenia
| | - Konstantin Yenkoyan
- Neuroscience Laboratory, Cobrain Center, Yerevan State Medical University Named After M. Heratsi, 0025, Yerevan, Armenia.
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Sakaguchi K, Tawata S. Giftedness and atypical sexual differentiation: enhanced perceptual functioning through estrogen deficiency instead of androgen excess. Front Endocrinol (Lausanne) 2024; 15:1343759. [PMID: 38752176 PMCID: PMC11094242 DOI: 10.3389/fendo.2024.1343759] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/24/2023] [Accepted: 04/15/2024] [Indexed: 05/18/2024] Open
Abstract
Syndromic autism spectrum conditions (ASC), such as Klinefelter syndrome, also manifest hypogonadism. Compared to the popular Extreme Male Brain theory, the Enhanced Perceptual Functioning model explains the connection between ASC, savant traits, and giftedness more seamlessly, and their co-emergence with atypical sexual differentiation. Overexcitability of primary sensory inputs generates a relative enhancement of local to global processing of stimuli, hindering the abstraction of communication signals, in contrast to the extraordinary local information processing skills in some individuals. Weaker inhibitory function through gamma-aminobutyric acid type A (GABAA) receptors and the atypicality of synapse formation lead to this difference, and the formation of unique neural circuits that process external information. Additionally, deficiency in monitoring inner sensory information leads to alexithymia (inability to distinguish one's own emotions), which can be caused by hypoactivity of estrogen and oxytocin in the interoceptive neural circuits, comprising the anterior insular and cingulate gyri. These areas are also part of the Salience Network, which switches between the Central Executive Network for external tasks and the Default Mode Network for self-referential mind wandering. Exploring the possibility that estrogen deficiency since early development interrupts GABA shift, causing sensory processing atypicality, it helps to evaluate the co-occurrence of ASC with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, dyslexia, and schizophrenia based on phenotypic and physiological bases. It also provides clues for understanding the common underpinnings of these neurodevelopmental disorders and gifted populations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kikue Sakaguchi
- Research Department, National Institution for Academic Degrees and Quality Enhancement of Higher Education (NIAD-QE), Kodaira-shi, Tokyo, Japan
| | - Shintaro Tawata
- Graduate School of Human Sciences, Sophia University, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo, Japan
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Chen S, Xu Q, Zhao L, Zhang M, Xu H. The prenatal use of agmatine prevents social behavior deficits in VPA-exposed mice by activating the ERK/CREB/BDNF signaling pathway. Birth Defects Res 2024; 116:e2336. [PMID: 38624050 DOI: 10.1002/bdr2.2336] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/03/2023] [Revised: 03/20/2024] [Accepted: 03/27/2024] [Indexed: 04/17/2024]
Abstract
BACKGROUND According to reports, prenatal exposure to valproic acid can induce autism spectrum disorder (ASD)-like symptoms in both humans and rodents. However, the exact cause and therapeutic method of ASD is not fully understood. Agmatine (AGM) is known for its neuroprotective effects, and this study aims to explore whether giving agmatine hydrochloride before birth can prevent autism-like behaviors in mouse offspring exposed prenatally to valproic acid. METHODS In this study, we investigated the effects of AGM prenatally on valproate (VPA)-exposed mice. We established a mouse model of ASD by prenatally administering VPA. From birth to weaning, we evaluated mouse behavior using the marble burying test, open-field test, and three-chamber social interaction test on male offspring. RESULTS The results showed prenatal use of AGM relieved anxiety and hyperactivity behaviors as well as ameliorated sociability of VPA-exposed mice in the marble burying test, open-field test, and three-chamber social interaction test, and this protective effect might be attributed to the activation of the ERK/CREB/BDNF signaling pathway. CONCLUSION Therefore, AGM can effectively reduce the likelihood of offspring developing autism to a certain extent when exposed to VPA during pregnancy, serving as a potential therapeutic drug.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shihao Chen
- Department of Neurology, the First Affiliated Hospital of Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou, China
| | - Qi Xu
- Department of Neurology, the First Affiliated Hospital of Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou, China
| | - Linqian Zhao
- Department of Neurology, the First Affiliated Hospital of Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou, China
| | - Mulan Zhang
- Department of Neurology, the First Affiliated Hospital of Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou, China
| | - Huiqin Xu
- Department of Neurology, the First Affiliated Hospital of Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou, China
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Deng Q, Hu L, Ding YQ, Lang B. Editorial: The commonality in converged pathways and mechanisms underpinning neurodevelopmental and psychiatric disorders. Front Mol Neurosci 2023; 16:1349631. [PMID: 38173465 PMCID: PMC10761413 DOI: 10.3389/fnmol.2023.1349631] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/05/2023] [Accepted: 12/08/2023] [Indexed: 01/05/2024] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Qijian Deng
- Department of Psychiatry, National Clinical Research Center for Mental Disorders and National Center for Mental Disorders, The Second Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, China
| | - Ling Hu
- State Key Laboratory of Medical Neurobiology and MOE Frontiers Center for Brain Science, Institutes of Brain Science, Fudan University, Shanghai, China
| | - Yu-Qiang Ding
- State Key Laboratory of Medical Neurobiology and MOE Frontiers Center for Brain Science, Institutes of Brain Science, Fudan University, Shanghai, China
| | - Bing Lang
- Department of Psychiatry, National Clinical Research Center for Mental Disorders and National Center for Mental Disorders, The Second Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, China
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Soyer-Gobillard MO, Gaspari L, Paris F, Courtet P, Sultan C. Effects of prenatal exposure to synthetic sex hormones on neurodevelopment: a biological mechanism. Front Mol Neurosci 2023; 16:1237429. [PMID: 38025263 PMCID: PMC10666627 DOI: 10.3389/fnmol.2023.1237429] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/09/2023] [Accepted: 10/13/2023] [Indexed: 12/01/2023] Open
Abstract
Since the middle of the 20th century, synthetic sex hormones (estrogens and progestins) have been administered to millions of pregnant or not women worldwide, mainly to avoid miscarriage or for comfort, although their mode of action and their effects on the mother and fetus were ignored. Despite the alerts and the description of somatic and psychiatric disorders in children exposed in utero, synthetic estrogens were prohibited for pregnant women only in the 1970s and 1980s, but some progestins are still authorized. In this review, we summarize the psychiatric disorders described in children exposed in utero to such hormones, focusing particularly on schizophrenia, bipolar disorders, severe depression, eating disorders, suicide and suicide attempts. Moreover, only in 2017 the mechanism of action of these xenohormones has started to be deciphered. Some studies showed that in the fetus exposed in utero, they alter the DNA methylation profile (mainly hypermethylation), and consequently the expression of genes implicated in neurodevelopment and in regulating the sexual organ morphogenesis and also of the promoter of estrogen receptors, located in the amygdala. These deleterious effects may be transmitted also to the next generations, thus affecting the children directly exposed and also the following generations.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Laura Gaspari
- Unité d’Endocrinologie-Gynécologie Pédiatrique, Service de Pédiatrie, CHU Montpellier, Univ Montpellier, Montpellier, France
- Centre de Référence Maladies Rares du Développement Génital, Constitutif Sud, Hôpital Lapeyronie, CHU Montpellier, Univ Montpellier, Montpellier, France
- INSERM 1203, Développement Embryonnaire Fertilité Environnement, Univ Montpellier, Montpellier, France
| | - Françoise Paris
- Unité d’Endocrinologie-Gynécologie Pédiatrique, Service de Pédiatrie, CHU Montpellier, Univ Montpellier, Montpellier, France
- Centre de Référence Maladies Rares du Développement Génital, Constitutif Sud, Hôpital Lapeyronie, CHU Montpellier, Univ Montpellier, Montpellier, France
- INSERM 1203, Développement Embryonnaire Fertilité Environnement, Univ Montpellier, Montpellier, France
| | - Philippe Courtet
- IGF, Univ. Montpellier, CNRS, INSERM, Montpellier, France
- Department of Emergency Psychiatry and Acute Care, Lapeyronie Hospital, CHU Montpellier, Montpellier, France
| | - Charles Sultan
- Unité d’Endocrinologie-Gynécologie Pédiatrique, Service de Pédiatrie, CHU Montpellier, Univ Montpellier, Montpellier, France
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Jia Q, Li H, Wang M, Wei C, Xu L, Ye L, Wang C, Ke S, Li L, Yao P. Transcript levels of 4 genes in umbilical cord blood are predictive of later autism development: a longitudinal follow-up study. J Psychiatry Neurosci 2023; 48:E334-E344. [PMID: 37673435 PMCID: PMC10495168 DOI: 10.1503/jpn.230046] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/24/2023] [Revised: 05/08/2023] [Accepted: 06/11/2023] [Indexed: 09/08/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Over recent decades, autism spectrum disorder (ASD) has been of increasing epidemiological importance, given the substantial increase in its prevalence; at present, clinical diagnosis is possible only after 2 years of age. In this study, we sought to develop a potential predictive model for ASD screening. METHODS We conducted a longitudinal follow-up study of newborns over 3 years. We measured transcript levels of 4 genes (superoxide dismutase-2 [SOD2], retinoic acid-related orphan receptor-α [RORA], G protein-coupled estrogen receptor-1 [GPER], progesterone receptor [PGR]), 2 oxidative stress markers and epigenetic marks at the RORA promoter in case-control umbilical cord blood mononuclear cell (UCBMC) samples. RESULTS We followed 2623 newborns; we identified 41 children with ASD, 63 with delayed development and 2519 typically developing children. We matched the 41 children with ASD to 41 typically developing children for UCBMC measurements. Our results showed that children with ASD had significantly higher levels of H3K9me3 histone modifications at the RORA promoter and oxidative stress in UCBMC than typically developing children; children with delayed development showed no significant differences. Children with ASD had significantly lower expression of SOD2, RORA and GPER, but higher PGR expression than typically developing children. We established a model based on these 4 candidate genes, and achieved an area under the curve of 87.0% (standard deviation 3.9%) with a sensitivity of 1.000 and specificity of 0.854 to predict ASD in UCBMC. LIMITATIONS Although the gene combinations produced a good pass/fail cut-off value for ASD evaluation, relatively few children in our study sample had ASD. CONCLUSION The altered gene expression in UCBMC can predict later autism development, possibly providing a predictive model for ASD screening immediately after birth.
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Affiliation(s)
- Qingzheng Jia
- From the Department of Pediatrics, Hainan Women and Children's Medical Center, Hainan, China
| | - Huilin Li
- From the Department of Pediatrics, Hainan Women and Children's Medical Center, Hainan, China
| | - Min Wang
- From the Department of Pediatrics, Hainan Women and Children's Medical Center, Hainan, China
| | - Chongxia Wei
- From the Department of Pediatrics, Hainan Women and Children's Medical Center, Hainan, China
| | - Lichao Xu
- From the Department of Pediatrics, Hainan Women and Children's Medical Center, Hainan, China
| | - Lin Ye
- From the Department of Pediatrics, Hainan Women and Children's Medical Center, Hainan, China
| | - Chunjun Wang
- From the Department of Pediatrics, Hainan Women and Children's Medical Center, Hainan, China
| | - Shaofeng Ke
- From the Department of Pediatrics, Hainan Women and Children's Medical Center, Hainan, China
| | - Ling Li
- From the Department of Pediatrics, Hainan Women and Children's Medical Center, Hainan, China
| | - Paul Yao
- From the Department of Pediatrics, Hainan Women and Children's Medical Center, Hainan, China
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Xu S, Fan J, Zhang H, Zhang M, Zhao H, Jiang X, Ding H, Zhang Y. Hearing Assistive Technology Facilitates Sentence-in-Noise Recognition in Chinese Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder. JOURNAL OF SPEECH, LANGUAGE, AND HEARING RESEARCH : JSLHR 2023:1-21. [PMID: 37418749 DOI: 10.1044/2023_jslhr-22-00589] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 07/09/2023]
Abstract
PURPOSE Hearing assistive technology (HAT) has been shown to be a viable solution to the speech-in-noise perception (SPIN) issue in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD); however, little is known about its efficacy in tonal language speakers. This study compared sentence-level SPIN performance between Chinese children with ASD and neurotypical (NT) children and evaluated HAT use in improving SPIN performance and easing SPIN difficulty. METHOD Children with ASD (n = 26) and NT children (n = 19) aged 6-12 years performed two adaptive tests in steady-state noise and three fixed-level tests in quiet and steady-state noise with and without using HAT. Speech recognition thresholds (SRTs) and accuracy rates were assessed using adaptive and fixed-level tests, respectively. Parents or teachers of the ASD group completed a questionnaire regarding children's listening difficulty under six circumstances before and after a 10-day trial period of HAT use. RESULTS Although the two groups of children had comparable SRTs, the ASD group showed a significantly lower SPIN accuracy rate than the NT group. Also, a significant impact of noise was found in the ASD group's accuracy rate but not in that of the NT group. There was a general improvement in the ASD group's SPIN performance with HAT and a decrease in their listening difficulty ratings across all conditions after the device trial. CONCLUSIONS The findings indicated inadequate SPIN in the ASD group using a relatively sensitive measure to gauge SPIN performance among children. The markedly increased accuracy rate in noise during HAT-on sessions for the ASD group confirmed the feasibility of HAT for improving SPIN performance in controlled laboratory settings, and the reduced post-use ratings of listening difficulty further confirmed the benefits of HAT use in daily scenarios.
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Affiliation(s)
- Suyun Xu
- Speech-Language-Hearing Center, School of Foreign Languages, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, China
| | - Juan Fan
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Shanghai Mental Health Center, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, China
| | - Hua Zhang
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Shanghai Mental Health Center, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, China
| | - Minyue Zhang
- Speech-Language-Hearing Center, School of Foreign Languages, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, China
| | - Hang Zhao
- Faculty of Education, East China Normal University, Shanghai
| | - Xiaoming Jiang
- Institute of Linguistics, Shanghai International Studies University, China
| | - Hongwei Ding
- Speech-Language-Hearing Center, School of Foreign Languages, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, China
| | - Yang Zhang
- Department of Speech-Language-Hearing Sciences and Masonic Institute for the Developing Brain, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis
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Xiao L, Feng J, Zhang W, Pan J, Wang M, Zhang C, Li L, Su X, Yao P. Autism-like behavior of murine offspring induced by prenatal exposure to progestin is associated with gastrointestinal dysfunction due to claudin-1 suppression. FEBS J 2023. [PMID: 36855792 DOI: 10.1111/febs.16761] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/20/2022] [Revised: 01/06/2023] [Accepted: 02/23/2023] [Indexed: 03/02/2023]
Abstract
Autism spectrum disorders (ASD) are associated with the contribution of many prenatal risk factors; in particular, the sex hormone progestin and vitamin D receptor (VDR) are associated with gastrointestinal (GI) symptoms in ASD development, although the related mechanism remains unclear. We investigated the possible role and mechanism of progestin 17-hydroxyprogesterone caproate (17-OHPC) exposure-induced GI dysfunction and autism-like behaviours (ALB) in mouse offspring. An intestine-specific VDR-deficient mouse model was established for prenatal treatment, while transplantation of haematopoietic stem cells (HSCT) with related gene manipulation was used for postnatal treatment for 17-OHPC exposure-induced GI dysfunction and ALB in mouse offspring. The in vivo mouse experiments found that VDR deficiency mimics prenatal 17-OHPC exposure-mediated GI dysfunction, but has no effect on 17-OHPC-mediated autism-like behaviours (ALB) in mouse offspring. Furthermore, prenatal 17-OHPC exposure induces CLDN1 suppression in intestine epithelial cells, and transplantation of HSCT with CLDN1 expression ameliorates prenatal 17-OHPC exposure-mediated GI dysfunction, but has no effect on 17-OHPC-mediated ALB in offspring. In conclusion, prenatal 17-OHPC exposure triggers GI dysfunction in autism-like mouse offspring via CLDN1 suppression, providing a possible explanation for the involvement of CLDN1 and VDR in prenatal 17-OHPC exposure-mediated GI dysfunction with ASD.
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Affiliation(s)
- Li Xiao
- Department of Pediatrics, Affiliated Foshan Maternity & Child Healthcare Hospital, The Second School of Clinical Medicine of Southern Medical University, Foshan, China
| | - Jianqing Feng
- Hainan Women and Children's Medical Center, Haikou, China
| | - Wanhua Zhang
- Department of Pediatrics, Affiliated Foshan Maternity & Child Healthcare Hospital, The Second School of Clinical Medicine of Southern Medical University, Foshan, China
| | - Jie Pan
- Hainan Women and Children's Medical Center, Haikou, China
| | - Min Wang
- Hainan Women and Children's Medical Center, Haikou, China
| | - Cheng Zhang
- College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, Long Island University (Post), Brookville, NY, USA
| | - Ling Li
- Hainan Women and Children's Medical Center, Haikou, China
| | - Xi Su
- Department of Pediatrics, Affiliated Foshan Maternity & Child Healthcare Hospital, The Second School of Clinical Medicine of Southern Medical University, Foshan, China
| | - Paul Yao
- Department of Pediatrics, Affiliated Foshan Maternity & Child Healthcare Hospital, The Second School of Clinical Medicine of Southern Medical University, Foshan, China.,Hainan Women and Children's Medical Center, Haikou, China
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10
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Chemogenetic rectification of the inhibitory tone onto hippocampal neurons reverts autistic-like traits and normalizes local expression of estrogen receptors in the Ambra1+/- mouse model of female autism. Transl Psychiatry 2023; 13:63. [PMID: 36804922 PMCID: PMC9941573 DOI: 10.1038/s41398-023-02357-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/06/2022] [Revised: 01/27/2023] [Accepted: 02/03/2023] [Indexed: 02/22/2023] Open
Abstract
Female, but not male, mice with haploinsufficiency for the proautophagic Ambra1 gene show an autistic-like phenotype associated with hippocampal circuits dysfunctions which include loss of parvalbuminergic interneurons (PV-IN), decrease in the inhibition/excitation ratio, and abundance of immature dendritic spines on CA1 pyramidal neurons. Given the paucity of data relating to female autism, we exploit the Ambra1+/- female model to investigate whether rectifying the inhibitory input onto hippocampal principal neurons (PN) rescues their ASD-like phenotype at both the systems and circuits level. Moreover, being the autistic phenotype exclusively observed in the female mice, we control the effect of the mutation and treatment on hippocampal expression of estrogen receptors (ER). Here we show that excitatory DREADDs injected in PV_Cre Ambra1+/- females augment the inhibitory input onto CA1 principal neurons (PN), rescue their social and attentional impairments, and normalize dendritic spine abnormalities and ER expression in the hippocampus. By providing the first evidence that hippocampal excitability jointly controls autistic-like traits and ER in a model of female autism, our findings identify an autophagy deficiency-related mechanism of hippocampal neural and hormonal dysregulation which opens novel perspectives for treatments specifically designed for autistic females.
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Sun R, Guo P, Sun T, Yu H, Liao Y, Xie J, Zeng J, Xie X, Huang S. Sex hormone receptor expression in children with autism spectrum disorder.. [DOI: 10.21203/rs.3.rs-2345028/v1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/04/2023]
Abstract
Abstract
Background
Sex hormones, especially estrogen, which binds to estrogen receptor β (ERβ), play a vital role in the pathogenesis of mental disorders such as autism spectrum disorder (ASD). The purpose of this study was to analyze the serum levels of hormone receptors, including ERβ, progesterone receptor (PGR) and androgen receptor (AR), and compare these levels between children with ASD and typically developing (TD) children. We also investigated the relationships of ERβ mRNA levels with ASD core symptoms, sleep, and developmental quotients (DQs) from the Gesell Developmental Schedules (GDS) among children with ASD.
Methods
We compared the mRNA levels of ERβ, AR, and PGR between 56 children with ASD and 37 TD children by using quantitative real-time PCR. Then, a correlation analysis was performed to determine the correlations of ERβ mRNA levels with Childhood Autism Rating Scale (CARS), Autism Behavior Checklist (ABC), and Children’s Sleep Habits Questionnaire (CHSQ) scores as well as DQs among ASD children.
Results
We found that serum mRNA levels of ERβ in ASD children were significantly lower than those in the TD group. However, we found no correlations of the ERβ mRNA level with CARS, ABC, and CHSQ scores as well as DQs on each GDS domain among ASD children.
Conclusions
Elevated ERβ mRNA levels in peripheral blood may be related to ASD but this association needs to be validated with a larger sample size.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ruoyu Sun
- Foshan Maternal and Child Health Hospital, Southern Medical University
| | - Pi Guo
- Shantou University Medical College
| | - Tao Sun
- Foshan Maternal and Child Health Hospital, Southern Medical University
| | - Hong Yu
- Foshan Maternal and Child Health Hospital, Southern Medical University
| | - Yanwei Liao
- Foshan Maternal and Child Health Hospital, Southern Medical University
| | - Jieqi Xie
- Foshan Maternal and Child Health Hospital, Southern Medical University
| | - Jiaying Zeng
- Foshan Maternal and Child Health Hospital, Southern Medical University
| | - Xiaoyun Xie
- Foshan Maternal and Child Health Hospital, Southern Medical University
| | - Saijun Huang
- Foshan Maternal and Child Health Hospital, Southern Medical University
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12
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Zeng J, Liang Y, Sun R, Huang S, Wang Z, Xiao L, Lu J, Yu H, Yao P. Hematopoietic stem cell transplantation ameliorates maternal diabetes–mediated gastrointestinal symptoms and autism‐like behavior in mouse offspring. Ann N Y Acad Sci 2022; 1512:98-113. [PMID: 35220596 PMCID: PMC9307016 DOI: 10.1111/nyas.14766] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/20/2021] [Accepted: 02/16/2022] [Indexed: 01/16/2023]
Abstract
Epidemiological studies have shown that maternal diabetes is associated with autism spectrum disorder development, although the detailed mechanism remains unclear. We have previously found that maternal diabetes induces persistent epigenetic changes and gene suppression in neurons, subsequently triggering autism‐like behavior (ALB). In this study, we investigated the potential role and effect of hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) on maternal diabetes–mediated gastrointestinal (GI) dysfunction and ALB in a mouse model. We show in vitro that transient hyperglycemia induced persistent epigenetic changes and gene suppression of tight junction proteins. In vivo, maternal diabetes–mediated oxidative stress induced gene suppression and inflammation in both peripheral blood mononuclear cells and intestine epithelial cells, subsequently triggering GI dysfunction with increased intestinal permeability and altered microbiota compositions, as well as suppressed gene expression in neurons and subsequent ALB in offspring; HSC transplantation (HSCT) ameliorates this effect by systematically reversing maternal diabetes–mediated oxidative stress. We conclude that HSCT can ameliorate maternal diabetes–mediated GI symptoms and autism‐like behavior in mouse offspring.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jiaying Zeng
- Department of Child HealthCare, Affiliated Foshan Maternity & Child Healthcare Hospital The Second School of Clinical Medicine of Southern Medical University Foshan P. R. China
| | - Yujie Liang
- Department of Child Psychiatry, Kangning Hospital of Shenzhen Shenzhen Mental Health Center Shenzhen P. R. China
| | - Ruoyu Sun
- Department of Child HealthCare, Affiliated Foshan Maternity & Child Healthcare Hospital The Second School of Clinical Medicine of Southern Medical University Foshan P. R. China
| | - Saijun Huang
- Department of Child HealthCare, Affiliated Foshan Maternity & Child Healthcare Hospital The Second School of Clinical Medicine of Southern Medical University Foshan P. R. China
| | - Zichen Wang
- Department of Child Psychiatry, Kangning Hospital of Shenzhen Shenzhen Mental Health Center Shenzhen P. R. China
| | - Li Xiao
- Department of Pediatrics, Affiliated Foshan Maternity & Child Healthcare Hospital The Second School of Clinical Medicine of Southern Medical University Foshan P. R. China
| | - Jianpin Lu
- Department of Child Psychiatry, Kangning Hospital of Shenzhen Shenzhen Mental Health Center Shenzhen P. R. China
| | - Hong Yu
- Department of Child HealthCare, Affiliated Foshan Maternity & Child Healthcare Hospital The Second School of Clinical Medicine of Southern Medical University Foshan P. R. China
| | - Paul Yao
- Department of Child HealthCare, Affiliated Foshan Maternity & Child Healthcare Hospital The Second School of Clinical Medicine of Southern Medical University Foshan P. R. China
- Department of Child Psychiatry, Kangning Hospital of Shenzhen Shenzhen Mental Health Center Shenzhen P. R. China
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Xiao L, Wang M, Zhang W, Song Y, Zeng J, Li H, Yu H, Li L, Gao P, Yao P. Maternal diabetes-mediated RORA suppression contributes to gastrointestinal symptoms in autism-like mouse offspring. BMC Neurosci 2022; 23:8. [PMID: 35164690 PMCID: PMC8842926 DOI: 10.1186/s12868-022-00693-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/25/2021] [Accepted: 02/09/2022] [Indexed: 11/10/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Retinoic acid-related orphan receptor alpha (RORA) has been reported to be suppressed in autistic patients and is associated with autism spectrum disorders (ASD), although the potential role and mechanism of RORA on gastrointestinal (GI) symptoms in ASD patients is still not reported. In this study, we aim to investigate the contribution of RORA to GI symptoms through a maternal diabetes-mediated autism-like mouse model. RESULTS Male offspring of diabetic dams were treated with either superoxide dismutase (SOD) mimetic MnTBAP or RORA agonist SR1078, or were crossbred with intestine epithelial cells (IEC)-specific RORA knockout (RORA-/-) mouse. Gene expression, oxidative stress and inflammation were measured in brain tissues, peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) and IEC, and GI symptoms were evaluated. Our results showed that SOD mimetic MnTBAP completely, while RORA agonist SR1078 partly, reversed maternal diabetes-mediated oxidative stress and inflammation in the brain, PBMC and IEC, as well as GI symptoms, including intestine permeability and altered gut microbiota compositions. IEC-specific RORA deficiency either mimicked or worsened maternal diabetes-mediated GI symptoms as well as oxidative stress and inflammation in IEC, while there was little effect on maternal diabetes-mediated autism-like behaviors. CONCLUSIONS We conclude that RORA suppression contributes to maternal diabetes-mediated GI symptoms in autism-like mouse offspring, this study provides a potential therapeutical target for maternal diabetes-mediated GI symptoms in offspring through RORA activation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Li Xiao
- Department of Pediatrics, Affiliated Foshan Maternity & Child Healthcare Hospital, The Second School of Clinical Medicine of Southern Medical University, Foshan, 528000, People's Republic of China
| | - Min Wang
- Hainan Women and Children's Medical Center, Haikou, 570206, People's Republic of China
| | - Wanhua Zhang
- Department of Pediatrics, Affiliated Foshan Maternity & Child Healthcare Hospital, The Second School of Clinical Medicine of Southern Medical University, Foshan, 528000, People's Republic of China
| | - Yuan Song
- Hainan Women and Children's Medical Center, Haikou, 570206, People's Republic of China
| | - Jiaying Zeng
- Department of Pediatrics, Affiliated Foshan Maternity & Child Healthcare Hospital, The Second School of Clinical Medicine of Southern Medical University, Foshan, 528000, People's Republic of China
| | - Huilin Li
- Hainan Women and Children's Medical Center, Haikou, 570206, People's Republic of China
| | - Hong Yu
- Department of Pediatrics, Affiliated Foshan Maternity & Child Healthcare Hospital, The Second School of Clinical Medicine of Southern Medical University, Foshan, 528000, People's Republic of China
| | - Ling Li
- Hainan Women and Children's Medical Center, Haikou, 570206, People's Republic of China.
| | - Pingming Gao
- Department of Pediatrics, Affiliated Foshan Maternity & Child Healthcare Hospital, The Second School of Clinical Medicine of Southern Medical University, Foshan, 528000, People's Republic of China.
| | - Paul Yao
- Department of Pediatrics, Affiliated Foshan Maternity & Child Healthcare Hospital, The Second School of Clinical Medicine of Southern Medical University, Foshan, 528000, People's Republic of China. .,Hainan Women and Children's Medical Center, Haikou, 570206, People's Republic of China.
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14
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Yu H, Niu Y, Jia G, Liang Y, Chen B, Sun R, Wang M, Huang S, Zeng J, Lu J, Li L, Guo X, Yao P. Maternal diabetes-mediated RORA suppression in mice contributes to autism-like offspring through inhibition of aromatase. Commun Biol 2022; 5:51. [PMID: 35027651 PMCID: PMC8758718 DOI: 10.1038/s42003-022-03005-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/19/2021] [Accepted: 12/23/2021] [Indexed: 01/31/2023] Open
Abstract
Retinoic acid-related orphan receptor alpha (RORA) suppression is associated with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) development, although the mechanism remains unclear. In this study, we aim to investigate the potential effect and mechanisms of RORA suppression on autism-like behavior (ALB) through maternal diabetes-mediated mouse model. Our in vitro study in human neural progenitor cells shows that transient hyperglycemia induces persistent RORA suppression through oxidative stress-mediated epigenetic modifications and subsequent dissociation of octamer-binding transcription factor 3/4 from the RORA promoter, subsequently suppressing the expression of aromatase and superoxide dismutase 2. The in vivo mouse study shows that prenatal RORA deficiency in neuron-specific RORA null mice mimics maternal diabetes-mediated ALB; postnatal RORA expression in the amygdala ameliorates, while postnatal RORA knockdown mimics, maternal diabetes-mediated ALB in offspring. In addition, RORA mRNA levels in peripheral blood mononuclear cells decrease to 34.2% in ASD patients (n = 121) compared to the typically developing group (n = 118), and the related Receiver Operating Characteristic curve shows good sensitivity and specificity with a calculated 84.1% of Area Under the Curve for ASD diagnosis. We conclude that maternal diabetes contributes to ALB in offspring through suppression of RORA and aromatase, RORA expression in PBMC could be a potential marker for ASD screening. Hong Yu, Yanbin Niu, Guohua Jia et al. integrate in vitro, in vivo, and human experiments to examine a link between RORA expression on autism-like behavior. Their results suggest that maternal diabetes may contribute to autism-like behavior via RORA suppression.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hong Yu
- Department of Pediatrics, Foshan Maternity and Child Health Care Hospital, Foshan, 528041, P. R. China
| | - Yanbin Niu
- Teachers College, Columbia University, New York, NY, 10027, USA
| | - Guohua Jia
- Hainan Women and Children's Medical Center, Haikou, 570206, P. R. China
| | - Yujie Liang
- Department of Child Psychiatry, Kangning Hospital of Shenzhen, Shenzhen Mental Health Center, Shenzhen, 518020, P. R. China
| | - Baolin Chen
- Department of Pediatrics, Foshan Maternity and Child Health Care Hospital, Foshan, 528041, P. R. China
| | - Ruoyu Sun
- Department of Pediatrics, Foshan Maternity and Child Health Care Hospital, Foshan, 528041, P. R. China
| | - Min Wang
- Hainan Women and Children's Medical Center, Haikou, 570206, P. R. China
| | - Saijun Huang
- Department of Pediatrics, Foshan Maternity and Child Health Care Hospital, Foshan, 528041, P. R. China
| | - Jiaying Zeng
- Department of Pediatrics, Foshan Maternity and Child Health Care Hospital, Foshan, 528041, P. R. China
| | - Jianpin Lu
- Department of Child Psychiatry, Kangning Hospital of Shenzhen, Shenzhen Mental Health Center, Shenzhen, 518020, P. R. China
| | - Ling Li
- Hainan Women and Children's Medical Center, Haikou, 570206, P. R. China.
| | - Xiaoling Guo
- Department of Pediatrics, Foshan Maternity and Child Health Care Hospital, Foshan, 528041, P. R. China.
| | - Paul Yao
- Department of Pediatrics, Foshan Maternity and Child Health Care Hospital, Foshan, 528041, P. R. China. .,Hainan Women and Children's Medical Center, Haikou, 570206, P. R. China.
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15
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Chen S, Zhao J, Hu X, Tang L, Li J, Wu D, Yan T, Xu L, Chen M, Huang S, Hao Y. Children neuropsychological and behavioral scale-revision 2016 in the early detection of autism spectrum disorder. Front Psychiatry 2022; 13:893226. [PMID: 35935438 PMCID: PMC9354041 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyt.2022.893226] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/10/2022] [Accepted: 06/27/2022] [Indexed: 11/29/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND The Children Neuropsychological and Behavioral Scale-Revision 2016 (CNBS-R2016) is a widely used developmental assessment tool for children aged 0-6 years in China. The communication warning behavior subscale of CNBS-R2016 is used to assess the symptoms of autism spectrum disorder (ASD), and its value of >30 points indicates ASD based on CNBS-R2016. However, we observed that children with relatively lower values were also diagnosed with ASD later on in clinical practice. Thus, this study aimed to identify the suitable cutoff value for ASD screening recommended by the communication warning behavior of CNBS-R2016. MATERIALS AND METHODS A total of 90 typically developing (TD) children and 316 children with developmental disorders such as ASD, developmental language disorder (DLD), and global developmental delay (GDD; 130 in the ASD group, 100 in the DLD group, and 86 in the GDD group) were enrolled in this study. All subjects were evaluated based on the CNBS-R2016. The newly recommended cutoff value of communication warning behavior for screening ASD was analyzed with receiver operating curves. RESULTS Children in the ASD group presented with lower developmental levels than TD, DLD, and GDD groups in overall developmental quotient assessed by CNBS-R2016. We compared the consistency between the scores of communication warning behavior subscale and Autism Behavior Checklist (ABC), Childhood Autism Rating Scale (CARS), Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule, second edition (ADOS-2), and clinical diagnosis for the classification of ASD at a value of 30 based on the previously and newly recommended cutoff value of 12 by the CNBS-R2016. The Kappa values between the communication warning behavior and ABC, CARS, ADOS-2, and clinical diagnosis were 0.494, 0.476, 0.137, and 0.529, respectively, with an agreement rate of 76.90%, 76.26%, 52.03%, and 82.27%, respectively, when the cutoff point was 30. The corresponding Kappa values were 0.891, 0.816, 0.613, and 0.844, respectively, and the corresponding agreement rate was 94.62%, 90.82%, 90.54%, and 93.10%, respectively, when the cutoff point was 12. CONCLUSION The communication warning behavior subscale of CNBS-R2016 is important for screening ASD. When the communication warning behavior score is 12 points or greater, considerable attention and further comprehensive diagnostic evaluation for ASD are required to achieve the early detection and diagnosis of ASD in children.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shuling Chen
- Division of Child Healthcare, Department of Pediatrics, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China.,Department of Child Health Care, Wuhan Children's Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China
| | - Jinzhu Zhao
- Division of Child Healthcare, Department of Pediatrics, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China
| | - Xiaolin Hu
- Division of Child Healthcare, Department of Pediatrics, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China
| | - Lina Tang
- Division of Child Healthcare, Department of Pediatrics, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China
| | - Jinhui Li
- Division of Child Healthcare, Department of Pediatrics, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China
| | - Dandan Wu
- Division of Child Healthcare, Department of Pediatrics, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China
| | - Tian Yan
- Division of Child Healthcare, Department of Pediatrics, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China
| | - Lu Xu
- Division of Child Healthcare, Department of Pediatrics, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China
| | - Min Chen
- Division of Child Healthcare, Department of Pediatrics, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China
| | - Shan Huang
- Division of Child Healthcare, Department of Pediatrics, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China
| | - Yan Hao
- Division of Child Healthcare, Department of Pediatrics, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China
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16
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Zhang Z, Hou M, Ou H, Wang D, Li Z, Zhang H, Lu J. Expression and structural analysis of human neuroligin 2 and neuroligin 3 implicated in autism spectrum disorders. Front Endocrinol (Lausanne) 2022; 13:1067529. [PMID: 36479216 PMCID: PMC9719943 DOI: 10.3389/fendo.2022.1067529] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/12/2022] [Accepted: 10/31/2022] [Indexed: 11/22/2022] Open
Abstract
The development of autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) involves both environmental factors such as maternal diabetes and genetic factors such as neuroligins (NLGNs). NLGN2 and NLGN3 are two members of NLGNs with distinct distributions and functions in synapse development and plasticity. The relationship between maternal diabetes and NLGNs, and the distinct working mechanisms of different NLGNs currently remain unclear. Here, we first analyzed the expression levels of NLGN2 and NLGN3 in a streptozotocin-induced ASD mouse model and different brain regions to reveal their differences and similarities. Then, cryogenic electron microscopy (cryo-EM) structures of human NLGN2 and NLGN3 were determined. The overall structures are similar to their homologs in previous reports. However, structural comparisons revealed the relative rotations of two protomers in the homodimers of NLGN2 and NLGN3. Taken together with the previously reported NLGN2-MDGA1 complex, we speculate that the distinct assembly adopted by NLGN2 and NLGN3 may affect their interactions with MDGAs. Our results provide structural insights into the potential distinct mechanisms of NLGN2 and NLGN3 implicated in the development of ASD.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zhenzhen Zhang
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen, China
| | - Mengzhuo Hou
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen, China
| | - Huaxing Ou
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen, China
| | - Daping Wang
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen, China
- Department of Orthopedics, Shenzhen Intelligent Orthopaedics and Biomedical Innovation Platform, Guangdong Provincial Research Center for Artificial Intelligence and Digital Orthopedic Technology, Shenzhen Second People’s Hospital, The First Affiliated Hospital of Shenzhen University, Shenzhen, China
| | - Zhifang Li
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen, China
- *Correspondence: Jianping Lu, ; Huawei Zhang, ; Zhifang Li,
| | - Huawei Zhang
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen, China
- Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Advanced Biomaterials, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen, China
- *Correspondence: Jianping Lu, ; Huawei Zhang, ; Zhifang Li,
| | - Jianping Lu
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Shenzhen Kangning Hospital, Shenzhen Mental Health Center, Shenzhen, China
- *Correspondence: Jianping Lu, ; Huawei Zhang, ; Zhifang Li,
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17
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Soyer-Gobillard MO, Gaspari L, Courtet P, Sultan C. Diethylstilbestrol and autism. Front Endocrinol (Lausanne) 2022; 13:1034959. [PMID: 36479217 PMCID: PMC9720308 DOI: 10.3389/fendo.2022.1034959] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/02/2022] [Accepted: 10/24/2022] [Indexed: 11/22/2022] Open
Abstract
It is acknowledged that diethylstilbestrol (DES), a synthetic diphenol with powerful estrogenic properties, causes structural anomalies of the reproductive tract and increases the risk of cancer and genital malformations in children and grandchildren of mothers treated during pregnancy. Conversely, data on DES effects on neurodevelopment and psychiatric disorders in in-utero exposed children and their descendants are rare, especially concerning Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD). Recent studies presented in this review strengthen the hypothesis that in-utero exposure to DES and also other synthetic estrogens and progestogens, which all are endocrine disruptors, contributes to the pathogenesis of psychiatric disorders, especially ASD. A large epidemiological study in the USA in 2010 reported severe depression in in-utero exposed children (n=1,612), and a French cohort study (n=1,002 in-utero DES exposed children) in 2016 found mainly bipolar disorders, schizophrenia, major depression, suicide attempts, and suicide. Few publications described ASD in in-utero exposed children, mainly a Danish cohort study and a large Chinese epidemiological study. Molecular studies on endocrine disruptors demonstrated the transgenerational induction of diseases and DES epigenetic impact (DNA methylation changes) at two genes implicated in neurodevelopment (ZFP57 and ADAM TS9). We recently described in an informative family, somatic and psychiatric disorders in four generations, particularly ASD in boys of the third and fourth generation. These data show that the principle of precaution must be retained for the protection of future generations: women (pregnant or not) should be extremely vigilant about synthetic hormones.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marie-Odile Soyer-Gobillard
- Univ Sorbonne, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Paris, France
- Association Halte aux HORmones Artificielles pour les GrossessES (Hhorages)-France, Perpignan, France
| | - Laura Gaspari
- Centre Hospitalier Universitaire (CHU) Montpellier: Univ Montpellier, Unité d’Endocrinologie-Gynécologie Pédiatrique, Service de Pédiatrie, Montpellier, France
- Centre Hospitalier Universitaire (CHU) Montpellier: Univ Montpellier, Centre de Référence Maladies Rares du Développement Génital, Constitutif Sud, Hôpital Lapeyronie, Montpellier, France
- Univ Montpellier, Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale (Inserm) 1203, Développement Embryonnaire Fertilité Environnement, Montpellier, France
| | - Philippe Courtet
- Institut de Génomique Fonctionnelle (IGF), Univ. Montpellier, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale (Inserm), Montpellier, France
- Department of Emergency Psychiatry and Acute Care, Lapeyronie Hospital, Centre Hospitalier Universitaire (CHU) Montpellier, Montpellier, France
| | - Charles Sultan
- Centre Hospitalier Universitaire (CHU) Montpellier: Univ Montpellier, Unité d’Endocrinologie-Gynécologie Pédiatrique, Service de Pédiatrie, Montpellier, France
- *Correspondence: Charles Sultan,
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18
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Huang S, Zeng J, Sun R, Yu H, Zhang H, Su X, Yao P. Prenatal Progestin Exposure-Mediated Oxytocin Suppression Contributes to Social Deficits in Mouse Offspring. Front Endocrinol (Lausanne) 2022; 13:840398. [PMID: 35370982 PMCID: PMC8964973 DOI: 10.3389/fendo.2022.840398] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/21/2021] [Accepted: 02/18/2022] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Epidemiological studies have shown that maternal hormone exposure is associated with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). The hormone oxytocin (OXT) is a central nervous neuropeptide that plays an important role in social behaviors as well as ASD etiology, although the detailed mechanism remains largely unknown. In this study, we aim to investigate the potential role and contribution of OXT to prenatal progestin exposure-mediated mouse offspring. Our in vitro study in the hypothalamic neurons that isolated from paraventricular nuclei area of mice showed that transient progestin exposure causes persistent epigenetic changes on the OXT promoter, resulting in dissociation of estrogen receptor β (ERβ) and retinoic acid-related orphan receptor α (RORA) from the OXT promoter with subsequent persistent OXT suppression. Our in vivo study showed that prenatal exposure of medroxyprogesterone acetate (MPA) triggers social deficits in mouse offspring; prenatal OXT deficiency in OXT knockdown mouse partly mimics, while postnatal ERβ expression or postnatal OXT peptide injection partly ameliorates, prenatal MPA exposure-mediated social deficits, which include impaired social interaction and social abilities. On the other hand, OXT had no effect on prenatal MPA exposure-mediated anxiety-like behaviors. We conclude that prenatal MPA exposure-mediated oxytocin suppression contributes to social deficits in mouse offspring.
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Affiliation(s)
- Saijun Huang
- Department of Child Healthcare, Affiliated Foshan Maternity & Child Healthcare Hospital, The Second School of Clinical Medicine of Southern Medical University, Foshan, China
| | - Jiaying Zeng
- Department of Child Healthcare, Affiliated Foshan Maternity & Child Healthcare Hospital, The Second School of Clinical Medicine of Southern Medical University, Foshan, China
| | - Ruoyu Sun
- Department of Child Healthcare, Affiliated Foshan Maternity & Child Healthcare Hospital, The Second School of Clinical Medicine of Southern Medical University, Foshan, China
| | - Hong Yu
- Department of Child Healthcare, Affiliated Foshan Maternity & Child Healthcare Hospital, The Second School of Clinical Medicine of Southern Medical University, Foshan, China
| | - Haimou Zhang
- State Key Lab of Biocatalysis and Enzyme Engineering, School of Life Sciences, Hubei University, Wuhan, China
| | - Xi Su
- Department of Child Healthcare, Affiliated Foshan Maternity & Child Healthcare Hospital, The Second School of Clinical Medicine of Southern Medical University, Foshan, China
- *Correspondence: Xi Su, ; Paul Yao,
| | - Paul Yao
- Department of Child Healthcare, Affiliated Foshan Maternity & Child Healthcare Hospital, The Second School of Clinical Medicine of Southern Medical University, Foshan, China
- *Correspondence: Xi Su, ; Paul Yao,
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19
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Prenatal Exposure to Diethylstilbestrol and Multigenerational Psychiatric Disorders: An Informative Family. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH AND PUBLIC HEALTH 2021; 18:ijerph18199965. [PMID: 34639263 PMCID: PMC8507930 DOI: 10.3390/ijerph18199965] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/13/2021] [Revised: 09/14/2021] [Accepted: 09/15/2021] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Psychiatric disorders in children exposed in utero to diethylstilbestrol (DES) are still debated. We report here the impact of DES prescribed to suppress lactation on the children born after such treatment and their progeny, focusing particularly on psychiatric disorders. CASE PRESENTATION We report here an informative family in which one or more psychiatric problems (e.g., bipolarity, suicide attempts and suicide, eating disorders) were detected in all children of second-generation (DES-exposed children; n = 9), but for II-2 who died at the age of 26 years due to rupture of a congenital brain aneurysm, and were associated with non-psychiatric disorders (particularly, endometriosis and hypospadias). In the third generation, 10 out of 19 DES-exposed grandchildren had psychiatric disorders (autism spectrum disorder, bipolar disorder, dyspraxia and learning disabilities, mood and behavioral disorders, and eating disorders), often associated with comorbidities. In the fourth generation (7 DES-exposed great-grandchildren, aged between 0 and 18 years), one child had dyspraxia and autism spectrum disorder. The first daughter of the second generation (not exposed to DES) and her children and grandchildren did not have any psychiatric symptoms or comorbidities. CONCLUSIONS To our knowledge, the high prevalence of psychiatric disorders of various severities in two, and likely three generations, including DES-free pregnancies and DES-exposed pregnancies from the same family, has never been reported. This work strengthens the hypothesis that in utero exposure to DES contributes to the pathogenesis of psychiatric disorders. It also highlights a multigenerational, and possibly transgenerational, effect of DES in neurodevelopment and psychiatric disorders.
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20
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Lanfranchi A. Hormonal Contraception and Violent Death: The Physiological and Psychological Links. Front Behav Neurosci 2021; 15:667563. [PMID: 34393733 PMCID: PMC8363127 DOI: 10.3389/fnbeh.2021.667563] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/13/2021] [Accepted: 07/13/2021] [Indexed: 11/26/2022] Open
Abstract
In the past decade, two large prospective cohort studies of British and American women have been conducted which found a statistically significant increase in the risk of violent death in ever-users of hormonal contraceptives. Research on the effects of hormonal contraceptives upon the behaviors of intimate partners and on the physiology of women using hormonal contraceptives has provided insight into the possible basis for the resulting increase in violent death. This review examines the changes that are potential contributors to the reported increase.
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Affiliation(s)
- Angela Lanfranchi
- Department of Surgery, Rutgers-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, New Brunswick, NJ, United States.,Breast Cancer Prevention Institute, Whitehouse Station, NJ, United States
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21
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Liang Y, Yu H, Ke X, Eyles D, Sun R, Wang Z, Huang S, Lin L, McGrath JJ, Lu J, Guo X, Yao P. Vitamin D deficiency worsens maternal diabetes induced neurodevelopmental disorder by potentiating hyperglycemia-mediated epigenetic changes. Ann N Y Acad Sci 2021; 1491:74-88. [PMID: 33305416 DOI: 10.1111/nyas.14535] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/26/2020] [Revised: 10/15/2020] [Accepted: 10/27/2020] [Indexed: 12/22/2022]
Abstract
Many studies have shown that vitamin D (VD) deficiency may be a risk factor for neurodevelopmental disorders, such as autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) and schizophrenia, although causative mechanisms remain unknown. In this study, we investigated the potential role and effect of VD on maternal diabetes induced autism-related phenotypes. The in vitro study found that enhancing genomic VD signaling by overexpressing the VD receptor (VDR) in human neural progenitor cells ACS-5003 protects against hyperglycemia-induced oxidative stress and inflammation by activating Nrf2 and its target genes, including SOD2 and HMOX1, and accordingly, VDR gene knockdown worsens the problem. In the two in vivo models we explored, maternal diabetes was used to establish an animal model of relevance to ASD, and mice lacking 25-hydroxyvitamin D 1-alpha-hydroxylase (the rate-limiting enzyme in the synthesis of 1,25(OH)2D3) were used to develop a model of VD deficiency (VDD). We show that although prenatal VDD itself does not produce ASD-relevant phenotypes, it significantly potentiates maternal diabetes induced epigenetic modifications and autism-related phenotypes. Postnatal manipulation of VD has no effect on maternal diabetes induced autism-related phenotypes. We conclude that VDD potentiates maternal diabetes induced autism-related phenotypes in offspring by epigenetic mechanisms. This study adds to other preclinical studies linking prenatal VDD with a neurodevelopmental disorder.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yujie Liang
- Department of Child Psychiatry, Kangning Hospital of Shenzhen, Shenzhen, P.R. China
| | - Hong Yu
- Department of Pediatrics, Foshan University, Foshan Maternity and Child Health Care Hospital, Foshan, P.R. China
| | - Xiaoyin Ke
- Department of Child Psychiatry, Kangning Hospital of Shenzhen, Shenzhen, P.R. China
| | - Darryl Eyles
- Queensland Centre for Mental Health Research, the Park Centre for Mental Health, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
- Queensland Brain Institute, University of Queensland, St Lucia, Queensland, Australia
| | - Ruoyu Sun
- Department of Pediatrics, Foshan University, Foshan Maternity and Child Health Care Hospital, Foshan, P.R. China
| | - Zichen Wang
- Department of Child Psychiatry, Kangning Hospital of Shenzhen, Shenzhen, P.R. China
| | - Saijun Huang
- Department of Pediatrics, Foshan University, Foshan Maternity and Child Health Care Hospital, Foshan, P.R. China
| | - Ling Lin
- Department of Child Psychiatry, Kangning Hospital of Shenzhen, Shenzhen, P.R. China
| | - John J McGrath
- Queensland Centre for Mental Health Research, the Park Centre for Mental Health, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
- Queensland Brain Institute, University of Queensland, St Lucia, Queensland, Australia
- National Centre for Register-based Research, Department of Economics and Business Economics, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark
| | - Jianping Lu
- Department of Child Psychiatry, Kangning Hospital of Shenzhen, Shenzhen, P.R. China
| | - Xiaoling Guo
- Department of Pediatrics, Foshan University, Foshan Maternity and Child Health Care Hospital, Foshan, P.R. China
| | - Paul Yao
- Department of Child Psychiatry, Kangning Hospital of Shenzhen, Shenzhen, P.R. China
- Department of Pediatrics, Foshan University, Foshan Maternity and Child Health Care Hospital, Foshan, P.R. China
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22
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Liu J, Liang Y, Jiang X, Xu J, Sun Y, Wang Z, Lin L, Niu Y, Song S, Zhang H, Xue Z, Lu J, Yao P. Maternal Diabetes-Induced Suppression of Oxytocin Receptor Contributes to Social Deficits in Offspring. Front Neurosci 2021; 15:634781. [PMID: 33633538 PMCID: PMC7900564 DOI: 10.3389/fnins.2021.634781] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/28/2020] [Accepted: 01/18/2021] [Indexed: 01/15/2023] Open
Abstract
Autism spectrum disorders (ASD) are a group of neurodevelopmental disorders characterized by impaired skills in social interaction and communication in addition to restricted and repetitive behaviors. Many different factors may contribute to ASD development; in particular, oxytocin receptor (OXTR) deficiency has been reported to be associated with ASD, although the detailed mechanism has remained largely unknown. Epidemiological study has shown that maternal diabetes is associated with ASD development. In this study, we aim to investigate the potential role of OXTR on maternal diabetes-mediated social deficits in offspring. Our in vitro study of human neuron progenitor cells showed that hyperglycemia induces OXTR suppression and that this suppression remains during subsequent normoglycemia. Further investigation showed that OXTR suppression is due to hyperglycemia-induced persistent oxidative stress and epigenetic methylation in addition to the subsequent dissociation of estrogen receptor β (ERβ) from the OXTR promoter. Furthermore, our in vivo mouse study showed that maternal diabetes induces OXTR suppression; prenatal OXTR deficiency mimics and potentiates maternal diabetes-mediated anxiety-like behaviors, while there is less of an effect on autism-like behaviors. Additionally, postnatal infusion of OXTR partly, while infusion of ERβ completely, reverses maternal diabetes-induced social deficits. We conclude that OXTR may be an important factor for ASD development and that maternal diabetes-induced suppression of oxytocin receptor contributes to social deficits in offspring.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jianbo Liu
- Department of Child Psychiatry, Kangning Hospital of Shenzhen, Shenzhen Mental Health Center, Shenzhen, China
| | - Yujie Liang
- Department of Child Psychiatry, Kangning Hospital of Shenzhen, Shenzhen Mental Health Center, Shenzhen, China
| | - Xing Jiang
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen, China
| | - Jianchang Xu
- Department of Child Psychiatry, Kangning Hospital of Shenzhen, Shenzhen Mental Health Center, Shenzhen, China
| | - Yumeng Sun
- Department of Child Psychiatry, Kangning Hospital of Shenzhen, Shenzhen Mental Health Center, Shenzhen, China
| | - Zichen Wang
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen, China
| | - Ling Lin
- Department of Child Psychiatry, Kangning Hospital of Shenzhen, Shenzhen Mental Health Center, Shenzhen, China
| | - Yanbin Niu
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen, China
| | - Shiqi Song
- Department of Child Psychiatry, Kangning Hospital of Shenzhen, Shenzhen Mental Health Center, Shenzhen, China
| | - Huawei Zhang
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen, China
| | - Zhenpeng Xue
- Department of Child Psychiatry, Kangning Hospital of Shenzhen, Shenzhen Mental Health Center, Shenzhen, China
| | - Jianping Lu
- Department of Child Psychiatry, Kangning Hospital of Shenzhen, Shenzhen Mental Health Center, Shenzhen, China
| | - Paul Yao
- Department of Child Psychiatry, Kangning Hospital of Shenzhen, Shenzhen Mental Health Center, Shenzhen, China
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23
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Shan L, Feng JY, Wang TT, Xu ZD, Jia FY. Prevalence and Developmental Profiles of Autism Spectrum Disorders in Children With Global Developmental Delay. Front Psychiatry 2021; 12:794238. [PMID: 35115968 PMCID: PMC8803654 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyt.2021.794238] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/13/2021] [Accepted: 12/22/2021] [Indexed: 12/13/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Previous studies have mostly explored the comorbidities of Global developmental delay (GDD) in children with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) from the perspective of ASD. The study focus on the perspective of GDD to investigate the prevalence and developmental profiles of ASD in GDD and to explore the correlation between the developmental level and symptoms of autism. METHODS Clinical data of 521 children with GDD aged from 24 to 60 months were retrospectively analyzed. Analyses were performed first for the whole sample and then subdivided into two subgroups (GDD+ASD-, GDD+ASD+) according to whether had ASD. Symptoms of autism were evaluated by the Autism Behavior Checklist and the Childhood Autism Rating Scale. The Chinese version of the Gesell Developmental Schedules was used to evaluate the level of children's mental development. RESULT The prevalence of ASD in children with GDD was 62.3%. The total average developmental quotient (DQ) of GDD was mildly deficient and was negatively correlated with symptoms of autism (p < 0.05); language ability was severe and extremely severe deficient (P < 0.05). GDD+ASD- group and GDD+ASD+ group have some common points as well as differences in the developmental features. The language delay of children in both subgroups was the most obviously defected, thereafter followed by the item of personal social activity. In the GDD+ASD+ group, the DQ of gross motor skills>fine motor skills>adaptability (p < 0.05). There were no significant differences among the DQ of gross motor skills, fine motor skills and adaptability in GDD+ASD- group (p > 0.05). The GDD+ASD-group had better adaptability, fine motor skills, language ability, personal social activity than that of the GDD+ASD+ group, but the gross motor skills in GDD+ASD- group were worse (p < 0.05). CONCLUSION GDD children have a high proportion of comorbid ASD, and GDD children with poorer developmental levels are more likely to have ASD symptoms. Development profiles in both GDD+ASD- children and GDD+ASD+ children have common features but there are also differences. GDD+ASD+ group is worse than GDD+ASD- group in terms of the overall development level.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ling Shan
- Department of Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics, The First Hospital of Jilin University, Jilin University, Changchun, China
| | - Jun-Yan Feng
- Department of Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics, The First Hospital of Jilin University, Jilin University, Changchun, China
| | - Tian-Tian Wang
- Department of Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics, The First Hospital of Jilin University, Jilin University, Changchun, China
| | - Zhi-Da Xu
- Department of Psychiatry, GGz Centraal, Amersfoort, Netherlands
| | - Fei-Yong Jia
- Department of Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics, The First Hospital of Jilin University, Jilin University, Changchun, China
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24
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Wu T, Wang H, Lu W, Zhai Q, Zhang Q, Yuan W, Gu Z, Zhao J, Zhang H, Chen W. Potential of gut microbiome for detection of autism spectrum disorder. Microb Pathog 2020; 149:104568. [PMID: 33096147 DOI: 10.1016/j.micpath.2020.104568] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/18/2020] [Revised: 09/08/2020] [Accepted: 10/12/2020] [Indexed: 02/07/2023]
Abstract
Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a neuro developmental disorder characterized by a series of abnormal social behaviors. The increasing prevalence of ASD has led to the discovery of a correlation with the intestinal microbiome in many studies. In our research, we evaluated 297 subjects, including 169 individuals with ASD and 128 neurotypical subjects, from the Sequence Read Archive database. We conducted a series of analyses, including alpha-diversity, phylogenetic profiles, and functional profiles, to explore the correlation between the gut microbiome and ASD. The principal component analysis (PCA) indicated that ASD and neurotypical subjects could be divided based on the unweighted UniFrac distance. The genera Prevotella, Roseburia, Ruminococcus, Megasphaera, and Catenibacterium might be biomarkers of ASD after linear discriminant analysis effect size (LEfSe) evaluation and Random Forest analysis, respectively. The functional analysis found six significant pathways between ASD and neurotypical subjects, including oxidative phosphorylation, nucleotide excision repair, peptidoglycan biosynthesis, photosynthesis, photosynthesis proteins, and two-component system. Based on these alterations of the intestinal microbiome in ASD subjects, we developed four machine learning models: random forest (RF), Multilayer Perceptron (MLP), kernelized support vector machines with the RBF kernel (SVMs), and Decision trees (DT). Notably, the RF model after RF selection was superior, with an F1 score of 0.74 and area under the curve of 0.827(0.004), suggesting the reliability and generalizability of predictive model. Besides, the validation performance of RF model after RF selection could be 0.75(0.01) on external cohort collected by our laboratory. Our study advances the understanding of human gut microbiome in ASD that designing and evaluating microbially based interventions of ASD.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tong Wu
- State Key Laboratory of Food Science and Technology, Jiangnan University, Wuxi, Jiangsu 214122, PR China; School of Food Science and Technology, Jiangnan University, Wuxi, Jiangsu, 214122, China
| | - Hongchao Wang
- State Key Laboratory of Food Science and Technology, Jiangnan University, Wuxi, Jiangsu 214122, PR China; School of Food Science and Technology, Jiangnan University, Wuxi, Jiangsu, 214122, China.
| | - Wenwei Lu
- State Key Laboratory of Food Science and Technology, Jiangnan University, Wuxi, Jiangsu 214122, PR China; School of Food Science and Technology, Jiangnan University, Wuxi, Jiangsu, 214122, China
| | - Qixiao Zhai
- State Key Laboratory of Food Science and Technology, Jiangnan University, Wuxi, Jiangsu 214122, PR China; School of Food Science and Technology, Jiangnan University, Wuxi, Jiangsu, 214122, China
| | - Qiuxiang Zhang
- State Key Laboratory of Food Science and Technology, Jiangnan University, Wuxi, Jiangsu 214122, PR China; School of Food Science and Technology, Jiangnan University, Wuxi, Jiangsu, 214122, China
| | - Weiwei Yuan
- State Key Laboratory of Food Science and Technology, Jiangnan University, Wuxi, Jiangsu 214122, PR China; School of Food Science and Technology, Jiangnan University, Wuxi, Jiangsu, 214122, China
| | - Zhennan Gu
- State Key Laboratory of Food Science and Technology, Jiangnan University, Wuxi, Jiangsu 214122, PR China; School of Food Science and Technology, Jiangnan University, Wuxi, Jiangsu, 214122, China
| | - Jianxin Zhao
- State Key Laboratory of Food Science and Technology, Jiangnan University, Wuxi, Jiangsu 214122, PR China; School of Food Science and Technology, Jiangnan University, Wuxi, Jiangsu, 214122, China
| | - Hao Zhang
- State Key Laboratory of Food Science and Technology, Jiangnan University, Wuxi, Jiangsu 214122, PR China; School of Food Science and Technology, Jiangnan University, Wuxi, Jiangsu, 214122, China; National Engineering Research Center for Functional Food, Jiangnan University, Wuxi, Jiangsu, 214122, China; Wuxi Translational Medicine Research Center and Jiangsu Translational Medicine Research Institute Wuxi Branch, China
| | - Wei Chen
- State Key Laboratory of Food Science and Technology, Jiangnan University, Wuxi, Jiangsu 214122, PR China; School of Food Science and Technology, Jiangnan University, Wuxi, Jiangsu, 214122, China; National Engineering Research Center for Functional Food, Jiangnan University, Wuxi, Jiangsu, 214122, China; Beijing Innovation Centre of Food Nutrition and Human Health, Beijing Technology and Business University (BTBU), Beijing, 100048, PR China
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25
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Hemmingsen CH, Kjaer SK, Jezek AH, Verhulst FC, Pagsberg AK, Kamper-Jørgensen M, Mørch LS, Hargreave M. Maternal use of hormonal contraception and risk of childhood ADHD: a nationwide population-based cohort study. Eur J Epidemiol 2020; 35:795-805. [PMID: 32968938 DOI: 10.1007/s10654-020-00673-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/31/2019] [Accepted: 08/04/2020] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
Although maternal use of hormones has been suspected of increasing the risk for childhood attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), no study has examined hormonal contraception use in this context. We examined the association between maternal hormonal contraception use before or during pregnancy and ADHD risk in children. This nationwide population-based cohort study included 1,056,846 children born in Denmark between 1998 and 2014. Prescriptions for hormonal contraceptives redeemed by the mother was categorized as: no use, previous use (> 3 months before pregnancy), and recent use (≤ 3 months before or during pregnancy). Children were followed for ADHD, from birth until 31 December 2015. Cox proportional hazard models were used to estimate hazard ratios (HRs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs). During 9,819,565 person-years of follow-up (median: 9.2), ADHD was diagnosed or a prescription for ADHD medication redeemed for 23,380 children (2.2%). The adjusted HR for ADHD was higher in children of mothers who had previously (HR 1.23; 95% CI 1.18-1.28) or recently (HR 1.30; 95% CI 1.24-1.37) used hormonal contraception than in those of mothers with no use. The highest estimates were seen for use of non-oral progestin products with HRs of 1.90 (95% CI 1.59-2.26) for previous use, 2.23 (95% CI 1.96-2.54) for recent use, and 3.10 (95% CI 1.62-5.91) for use during pregnancy. Maternal use of hormonal contraception was associated with an increased risk for ADHD in the offspring; more pronounced for non-oral progestin-only than other products.
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Affiliation(s)
- Caroline H Hemmingsen
- Virus, Lifestyle and Genes, Danish Cancer Society Research Center, Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - Susanne K Kjaer
- Virus, Lifestyle and Genes, Danish Cancer Society Research Center, Copenhagen, Denmark.,Department of Gynaecology, Rigshospitalet, Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - Andrea H Jezek
- Virus, Lifestyle and Genes, Danish Cancer Society Research Center, Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - Frank C Verhulst
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry/Psychology, Erasmus MC-University Medical Centre, Rotterdam, The Netherlands.,Child and Adolescent Mental Health Center, Mental Health Services, Capital Region of Denmark and Department of Clinical Medicine, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - Anne Katrine Pagsberg
- Child and Adolescent Mental Health Center, Mental Health Services, Capital Region of Denmark and Department of Clinical Medicine, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - Mads Kamper-Jørgensen
- Section of Epidemiology, Department of Public Health, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - Lina S Mørch
- Virus, Lifestyle and Genes, Danish Cancer Society Research Center, Copenhagen, Denmark.,Cancer Surveillance and Pharmacoepidemiology, Danish Cancer Society Research Center, Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - Marie Hargreave
- Virus, Lifestyle and Genes, Danish Cancer Society Research Center, Copenhagen, Denmark.
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26
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Magdalena H, Beata K, Justyna P, Agnieszka KG, Szczepara-Fabian M, Buczek A, Ewa EW. Preconception Risk Factors for Autism Spectrum Disorder - A Pilot Study. Brain Sci 2020; 10:E293. [PMID: 32423096 PMCID: PMC7288185 DOI: 10.3390/brainsci10050293] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/13/2020] [Revised: 05/10/2020] [Accepted: 05/12/2020] [Indexed: 12/22/2022] Open
Abstract
Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder of multifactorial etiology. Preconception risk factors are still poorly understood. A survey on preconception risk factors for ASD was conducted among parents of 121 ASD patients aged 3-12 years and parents of 100 healthy children aged 3-12 years. The exclusion criteria were as follows: the presence of associated problems such as intellectual disability, epilepsy or other genetic and neurological diseases. Thirteen parameters were considered, a few among which were conception problems, conception with assisted reproductive techniques, the use and duration of oral contraception, the number of previous pregnancies and miscarriages, time since the previous pregnancy (in months), the history of mental illness in the family (including ASD), other chronic diseases in the mother or father and maternal and paternal treatment in specialist outpatient clinics. Three factors statistically significantly increased the risk of developing ASD: mental illness in the mother/mother's family (35.54% vs. 16.0%, p = 0.0002), maternal thyroid disease (16.67% vs. 5.0%, p = 0.009) and maternal oral contraception (46.28% vs. 29.0%, p = 0.01). Children of mothers with thyroid disorders or with mental illness in relatives should be closely monitored for ASD. Further studies are warranted to assess a potential effect of oral contraception on the development of offspring.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hankus Magdalena
- Department of Pediatric Neurology, Faculty of Medical Science in Katowice, Medical University of Silesia, 42-600 Katowice, Poland; (H.M.); (E.-W.E.)
| | - Kazek Beata
- Persevere—Child Development Support Center, 42-600 Katowice, Poland;
| | - Paprocka Justyna
- Department of Pediatric Neurology, Faculty of Medical Science in Katowice, Medical University of Silesia, 42-600 Katowice, Poland; (H.M.); (E.-W.E.)
| | | | | | - Agata Buczek
- Department of Neurological Rehabilitation, John Paul II Upper Silesian Child Health Centre, 42-600 Katowice, Poland;
| | - Emich-Widera Ewa
- Department of Pediatric Neurology, Faculty of Medical Science in Katowice, Medical University of Silesia, 42-600 Katowice, Poland; (H.M.); (E.-W.E.)
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27
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Xiang D, Lu J, Wei C, Cai X, Wang Y, Liang Y, Xu M, Wang Z, Liu M, Wang M, Liang X, Li L, Yao P. Berberine Ameliorates Prenatal Dihydrotestosterone Exposure-Induced Autism-Like Behavior by Suppression of Androgen Receptor. Front Cell Neurosci 2020; 14:87. [PMID: 32327976 PMCID: PMC7161090 DOI: 10.3389/fncel.2020.00087] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/17/2019] [Accepted: 03/23/2020] [Indexed: 01/03/2023] Open
Abstract
Many epidemiology studies have shown that maternal polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) results in a greater risk of autism spectrum disorders (ASD) development, although the detailed mechanism remains unclear. In this study, we aimed to investigate the potential mechanism and provide a possible treatment for PCOS-mediated ASD through three experiments: Experiment 1: real-time PCR and western blots were employed to measure gene expression in human neurons, and the luciferase reporter assay and chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP) was used to map the responsive elements on related gene promoters. Experiment 2: pregnant dams were prenatally exposed to dihydrotestosterone (DHT), androgen receptor (AR) knockdown (shAR) in the amygdala, or berberine (BBR), and the subsequent male offspring were used for autism-like behavior (ALB) assay followed by biomedical analysis, including gene expression, oxidative stress, and mitochondrial function. Experiment 3: the male offspring from prenatal DHT exposed dams were postnatally treated by either shAR or BBR, and the offspring were used for ALB assay followed by biomedical analysis. Our findings showed that DHT treatment suppresses the expression of estrogen receptor β (ERβ) and superoxide dismutase 2 (SOD2) through AR-mediated hypermethylation on the ERβ promoter, and BBR treatment suppresses AR expression through hypermethylation on the AR promoter. Prenatal DHT treatment induces ERβ suppression, oxidative stress and mitochondria dysfunction in the amygdala with subsequent ALB behavior in male offspring, and AR knockdown partly diminishes this effect. Furthermore, both prenatal and postnatal treatment of BBR partly restores prenatal DHT exposure-mediated ALB. In conclusion, DHT suppresses ERβ expression through the AR signaling pathway by hypermethylation on the ERβ promoter, and BBR restores this effect through AR suppression. Prenatal DHT exposure induces ALB in offspring through AR-mediated ERβ suppression, and both prenatal and postnatal treatment of BBR ameliorates this effect. We conclude that BBR ameliorates prenatal DHT exposure-induced ALB through AR suppression, this study may help elucidate the potential mechanism and identify a potential treatment through using BBR for PCOS-mediated ASD.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dongfang Xiang
- The Second Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine, Guangzhou, China
| | - Jianping Lu
- Department of Child Psychiatry, Kangning Hospital of Shenzhen, Shenzhen, China
| | - Chongxia Wei
- Hainan Maternal and Child Health Hospital, Haikou, China
| | - Xiaofan Cai
- Hainan Maternal and Child Health Hospital, Haikou, China
| | - Yongxia Wang
- The Second Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine, Guangzhou, China
| | - Yujie Liang
- Department of Child Psychiatry, Kangning Hospital of Shenzhen, Shenzhen, China
| | - Mingtao Xu
- The Second Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine, Guangzhou, China
| | - Zichen Wang
- Department of Child Psychiatry, Kangning Hospital of Shenzhen, Shenzhen, China
| | - Min Liu
- The Second Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine, Guangzhou, China
| | - Min Wang
- Hainan Maternal and Child Health Hospital, Haikou, China
| | - Xuefang Liang
- The Second Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine, Guangzhou, China
| | - Ling Li
- Hainan Maternal and Child Health Hospital, Haikou, China
| | - Paul Yao
- Department of Child Psychiatry, Kangning Hospital of Shenzhen, Shenzhen, China.,Hainan Maternal and Child Health Hospital, Haikou, China
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28
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Malaguarnera M, Khan H, Cauli O. Resveratrol in Autism Spectrum Disorders: Behavioral and Molecular Effects. Antioxidants (Basel) 2020; 9:E188. [PMID: 32106489 PMCID: PMC7139867 DOI: 10.3390/antiox9030188] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/14/2020] [Revised: 02/21/2020] [Accepted: 02/22/2020] [Indexed: 02/07/2023] Open
Abstract
Resveratrol (RSV) is a polyphenolic stillbenoid with significant anti-oxidative and anti-inflammatory properties recently tested in animal models of several neurological diseases. Altered immune alteration and oxidative stress have also been found in patients with autism spectrum disorders (ASD), and these alterations could add to the pathophysiology associated with ASD. We reviewed the current evidence about the effects of RSV administration in animal models and in patients with ASD. RSV administration improves the core-symptoms (social impairment and stereotyped activity) in animal models and it also displays beneficial effects in other behavioral abnormalities such as hyperactivity, anxiety and cognitive function. The molecular mechanisms by which RSV restores or improves behavioral abnormalities in animal models encompass both normalization of central and peripheral immune alteration and oxidative stress markers and new molecular mechanisms such as expression of cortical gamma-amino butyric acid neurons, certain type of miRNAs that regulate spine growth. One randomized, placebo-controlled clinical trial (RCT) suggested that RSV add-on risperidone therapy improves comorbid hyperactivity/non-compliance, whereas no effects where seen in core symptoms of ASD No RCTs about the effect of RSV as monotherapy have been performed and the results from preclinical studies encourage its feasibility. Further clinical trials should also identify those ASD patients with immune alterations and/or with increased oxidative stress markers that would likely benefit from RSV administration.
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Affiliation(s)
- Michele Malaguarnera
- Research Center “The Great Senescence”, University of Catania, 95100 Catania, Italy;
- Department of Nursing, University of Valencia, 46010 Valencia, Spain
| | - Haroon Khan
- Department of Pharmacy, Abdul Wali Khan University, Marden 23200, Pakistan;
| | - Omar Cauli
- Department of Nursing, University of Valencia, 46010 Valencia, Spain
- Frailty and Cognitive Impairment Group (FROG), University of Valencia, 46010 Valencia, Spain
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29
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Lu J, Xiao M, Guo X, Liang Y, Wang M, Xu J, Liu L, Wang Z, Zeng G, Liu K, Li L, Yao P. Maternal Diabetes Induces Immune Dysfunction in Autistic Offspring Through Oxidative Stress in Hematopoietic Stem Cells. Front Psychiatry 2020; 11:576367. [PMID: 33101089 PMCID: PMC7495463 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyt.2020.576367] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/29/2020] [Accepted: 08/18/2020] [Indexed: 12/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Autism spectrum disorders (ASD) have been found to be associated with immune dysfunction and elevated cytokines, although the detailed mechanism remains unknown. In this study, we aim to investigate the potential mechanisms through a maternal diabetes-induced autistic mouse model. We found that maternal diabetes-induced autistic offspring have epigenetic changes on the superoxide dismutase 2 (SOD2) promoter with subsequent SOD2 suppression in both hematopoietic stem cells (HSC) and peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC). Bone marrow transplantation of normal HSC to maternal diabetes-induced autistic offspring transferred epigenetic modifications to PBMC and significantly reversed SOD2 suppression and oxidative stress and elevated inflammatory cytokine levels. Further, in vivo human study showed that SOD2 mRNA expression from PBMC in the ASD group was reduced to ~12% compared to typically developing group, and the SOD2 mRNA level-based ROC (Receiver Operating Characteristic) curve shows a very high sensitivity and specificity for ASD patients. We conclude that maternal diabetes induces immune dysfunction in autistic offspring through SOD2 suppression and oxidative stress in HSC. SOD2 mRNA expression in PBMC may be a good biomarker for ASD diagnosis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jianping Lu
- Department of Child Psychiatry, Kangning Hospital of Shenzhen, Shenzhen, China
| | - Meifang Xiao
- Hainan Women and Children's Medical Center, Haikou, China
| | - Xiaoling Guo
- Department of Pediatrics, Foshan Maternity and Child Health Care Hospital, Foshan, China
| | - Yujie Liang
- Department of Child Psychiatry, Kangning Hospital of Shenzhen, Shenzhen, China
| | - Min Wang
- Hainan Women and Children's Medical Center, Haikou, China
| | - Jianchang Xu
- Department of Child Psychiatry, Kangning Hospital of Shenzhen, Shenzhen, China
| | - Liyan Liu
- Hainan Women and Children's Medical Center, Haikou, China
| | - Zichen Wang
- Department of Child Psychiatry, Kangning Hospital of Shenzhen, Shenzhen, China
| | - Gang Zeng
- Hainan Women and Children's Medical Center, Haikou, China
| | - Kelly Liu
- Hainan Women and Children's Medical Center, Haikou, China
| | - Ling Li
- Hainan Women and Children's Medical Center, Haikou, China
| | - Paul Yao
- Department of Child Psychiatry, Kangning Hospital of Shenzhen, Shenzhen, China.,Hainan Women and Children's Medical Center, Haikou, China
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Maternal diabetes induces autism-like behavior by hyperglycemia-mediated persistent oxidative stress and suppression of superoxide dismutase 2. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2019; 116:23743-23752. [PMID: 31685635 PMCID: PMC6876200 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1912625116] [Citation(s) in RCA: 52] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/11/2022] Open
Abstract
Hyperglycemia induces persistent oxidative stress and superoxide dismutase 2 (SOD2) suppression in neurons. SOD2 suppression is caused by oxidative stress-mediated histone methylation and subsequent dissociation of Egr1 on the SOD2 promoter. Maternal diabetes induces autism-like behavior in offspring with SOD2 suppression in the amygdala in rats, while SOD2 overexpression in the amygdala ameliorates autism-like behavior. Postnatal treatment of the blood–brain barrier-permeable antioxidant resveratrol partly restores this effect. This study describes a potential mechanism for maternal diabetes-induced autism-like behavior in offspring. Epidemiological studies show that maternal diabetes is associated with an increased risk of autism spectrum disorders (ASDs), although the detailed mechanisms remain unclear. The present study aims to investigate the potential effect of maternal diabetes on autism-like behavior in offspring. The results of in vitro study showed that transient hyperglycemia induces persistent reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation with suppressed superoxide dismutase 2 (SOD2) expression. Additionally, we found that SOD2 suppression is due to oxidative stress-mediated histone methylation and the subsequent dissociation of early growth response 1 (Egr1) on the SOD2 promoter. Furthermore, in vivo rat experiments showed that maternal diabetes induces SOD2 suppression in the amygdala, resulting in autism-like behavior in offspring. SOD2 overexpression restores, while SOD2 knockdown mimics, this effect, indicating that oxidative stress and SOD2 expression play important roles in maternal diabetes-induced autism-like behavior in offspring, while prenatal and postnatal treatment using antioxidants permeable to the blood–brain barrier partly ameliorated this effect. We conclude that maternal diabetes induces autism-like behavior through hyperglycemia-mediated persistent oxidative stress and SOD2 suppression. Here we report a potential mechanism for maternal diabetes-induced ASD.
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