Prediction of ADHD symptoms from prenatal data in two large population-based cohorts

Introduction

The association between low birth weight and attention problems in childhood has been replicated many times (e.g. Momany, Kamradt, & Nikolas, 2018). However birth weight is unlikely the aetiological start-point of this association, as birth weight is itself the product of many prenatal factors e.g. gestational complications, maternal toxin exposure during pregnancy and basic demographics.

Objectives

We explore (1) which prenatal factors best predict attention problems in two independant population-based cohorts of children (2) which associations, if any, are moderated by sex and (3) we report accuracy statistics of our prenatal prediction algorithm for attention problems.

Methods

Participants were children aged 9 from ABCD study from the United States (N > 9,000) and the Growing Up in Ireland (GUI) study from Ireland (N > 6,000). Selected variables included familial pscyhiatric history, maternal smoking during gestation, prescription and non-prescription drug-use during gestation and a variety of gestational complications. All interactions with sex were also included. We used 5-fold cross-validation and elastic net regression (glmnet) to identify the optimal predictors of attention problems (measured by CBCL and SDQ).

Results

Strongest predictors of attention problems in the U.S. cohort included male sex, number of drugs used during pregnancy, number of family members with a history of mental illness, and number of gestational complications. Sex interacted with several of these risks. Protective factors included being a twin/triplet, being Asian, having higher household income and higher parental education level.

Conclusions

Several risk factors for childhood attention problems were identified across both cohorts, supporting their generalizabilty. Other findings were cohort-specific.

Disclosure

No significant relationships.

A survey of the prevalence of persistent pain after vaginal delivery: a pilot study

INTRODUCTION

Pain that has lasted for 2 months is considered to be persistent, as defined by The International Association for the Study of Pain (IASP). To date, there is no data on the incidence of persistent pain after vaginal delivery available for Ireland. The aim of this pilot study is to determine the incidence of persistent pain in women post-vaginal delivery at 8 weeks postpartum in the Coombe Women's & Infants University Hospital, Dublin (CWIUH).

METHODS

50 women post-vaginal delivery at the CWIUH were recruited over a 2-month period. At 8 weeks after delivery, the patients were contacted by telephone interview to assess the presence of pain, if any, using a modified painDETECT Questionnaire.

RESULTS

The incidence of persistent pain at 8 weeks from our pilot study is 28%.

Differential role for protein kinase C-mediated signaling in the proliferation of medulloblastoma cell lines

Recent studies have implicated protein kinase C (PKC)-mediated signaling in the proliferation of gliomas. In this study, we have investigated the role of PKC mediated signaling in the proliferation of medulloblastoma cell lines DAOY, D283-Med and D341-Med. By Western blot analyses, conventional PKC (cPKC) alpha was detectable in DAOY only, while atypical PKC (aPKC) zeta was present in all three cell lines. cPKC beta1, beta11, gamma novel PKC (nPKC) delta, and epsilon were not detectable in any of the cell lines. Antisense oligonucleotides to PKC alpha , Calphostin C (a specific PKC inhibitor) and prolonged treatment with phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate (PMA) with down regulation of cPKCalpha caused a decrease in proliferation in DAOY and no effect on D283-Med. Furthermore, PMA treatment was also associated with upregulation of p21cip1 in DAOY. Since cPKCalpha is the only PMA responsive isoform in DAOY, this observation implicates the cPKCalpha isoform in the proliferation of DAOY but not in D283-Med. A comparison of DAOY and D283-Med showed a higher proliferation index in DAOY. In contrast, multiprobe riboquant ribonuclease protection assay revealed higher levels of p27kip1 and p21cip1 mRNA in D283-Med. These transcripts were barely detectable in untreated DAOY. These observations indicate possible significant molecular heterogeneity among medulloblastomas with implications for differing biology among medulloblastoma cell lines and tumors.

IL-10 production by adult human derived microglial cells

Microglia, a population of central nervous system (CNS) macrophages, have been demonstrated to support immune accessory and effector functions in the CNS. Numerous studies support the role of microglia in CNS development and pathology, where activation of microglia is consistently noted. The current study investigated microglial immune functions under basal and activation conditions and assessed the ability of interleukin-10 (IL-10), added exogenously or produced by microglia, to down-regulate microglial functions. This report demonstrates that microglia from the adult human brain produce IL-10 following interferon-gamma/lipopolysaccharide activation. Functionally, recombinant human IL-10 down-regulated basal HLA-DR expression by microglia and inhibited, in a dose-dependent response, the ability of microglia to stimulate CD4+ T-cells in antigen presentation assays. These data, together with recent observations of the inhibition of experimental allergic encephalomyelitis (EAE) following IL-10 administration and reduced CNS infection by Listeria monocytogenes after anti-IL-10 treatment, suggest that IL-10 production by microglia may have important immune-regulatory functions in CNS disease and disease models.

Activation of suppressor T cells during Epstein-Barr-virus-induced infectious mononucleosis

Infectious mononucleosis is caused by the Epstein-Barr virus (EBV), an unusual human pathogen because it preferentially infects B lymphocytes and consequently activates them to produce immunoglobulins. When cultures of lymphocytes from patients with infectious mononucleosis were stimulated with polyclonal activators, unseparated cells failed to produce immunoglobulins, whereas purified B cells responded normally. Cocultures demonstrated profound suppressor T-cell activity in blood from patients with infectious mononucleosis. Early in this disease, circulating immunoglobulin-secreting cells were elevated, but during the second week their number was strikingly depressed. These data indicate that during infectious mononucleosis, EBV causes polyclonal activation of B cells, reflected by hypergammaglobulinemia and increased circulating immunoglobulin-secreting cells. Next, suppressor T cells become activated and inhibit further B-cell activation. Thus, activation of suppressor T cells in infectious mononucleosis provides a unique additional mechanism of host defense because these T cells inhibit the activation and proliferation of an important target of the causative virus.

Artifactual plaque formation in vitro and in vivo to passive transfer of specific antibody

The localized hemolysis in gel (LHG) assay for antibody-secreting cells was used to evaluate antibody production in heterologous erythrocyte-immunized cultures of human peripheral blood lymphocytes supplemented with 10% human plasma. Antigen-specific plaques were detected in such cultures and the number of plaques varied with different lymphocyte donors and were inhibited by heat killing the cultures before assay. However, plaque number varied directly with the number of immunizing erythrocytes added to the cultures and inversely with the number of lymphocytes added. Maximum plaque production occurred within 10 min of initiation of the cultures and occurred in the absence of any lymphoid cells. Absorption of the plasma used as culture supplement with the immunizing erythrocyte resulted in complete abrogation of subsequent specific plaque formation. Mice previously passively immunized with high titered anti-erythrocyte antibody had large numbers of plaques detected 30 min after i.v. immunization with the appropriate erythrocyte. These plaques detected by LHG are the result of carry-over of aggregates of antibody-coated erythrocytes and subsequent release of this antibody in the LHG assay and are not the result of active antibody synthesis. This "pseudoplaque" production may lead to the false interpretation of plaque formation as indicating active synthesis of antibody in vivo and in vitro where such experiments are carried out in immune animals or with antibody containing serum culture supplements.

Artifactual Plaque Formation in Vitro and in Vivo Due to Passive Transfer of Specific Antibody

The localized hemolysis in gel (LHG) assay for antibody-secreting cells was used to evaluate antibody production in heterologous erythrocyte-immunized cultures of human peripheral blood lymphocytes supplemented with 10% human plasma. Antigen-specific plaques were detected in such cultures and the number of plaques varied with different lymphocyte donors and were inhibited by heat killing the cultures before assay. However, plaque number varied directly with the number of immunizing erythrocytes added to the cultures and inversely with the number of lymphocytes added. Maximum plaque production occurred within 10 min of initiation of the cultures and occurred in the absence of any lymphoid cells. Absorption of the plasma used as culture supplement with the immunizing erythrocyte resulted in complete abrogation of subsequent specific plaque formation. Mice previously passively immunized with high titered anti-erythrocyte antibody had large numbers of plaques detected 30 min after i.v. immunization with the appropriate erythrocyte. These plaques detected by LHG are the result of carry-over of aggregates of antibody-coated erythrocytes and subsequent release of this antibody in the LHG assay and are not the result of active antibody synthesis. This “pseudoplaque” production may lead to the false interpretation of plaque formation as indicating active synthesis of antibody in vivo and in vitro where such experiments are carried out in immune animals or with antibody containing serum culture supplements.

Infectious agammaglobulinemia: transmission of immunodeficiency with grafts of agammaglobulinemic cells

Agammaglobulinemia induced in chickens by surgical bursectomy and irradiation at hatching is transmissible at 4 mo of age to sublethally irradiated normal chickens by bone marrow transplantation. The immunodeficiency which develops in the recipients persists for life and is characterized by inability to produce antibody and by progressive loss of detectable serum IgM and IgG.