Racial disparities in the distribution of Tfh cells.

A) Overall Tfh frequencies were similar between African-Americans and Caucasians. However, race related differences were observed in certain Tfh cell subsets including B, C) decreased frequencies of Tfh1 cells in African-Americans at all age ranges, and D, E) increased Tfh17 frequencies in African-Americans, a difference that was observed in all age groups. In C and E, Caucasians are represented by blue bars and African-Americans by orange bars.</p

Age related changes in selected T cell populations.

A, B) A decrease in naïve CD4+ and CD8+ T cells with advancing age (C, D) corresponds with an increase in central memory CD4+ and CD8+ T cells. E) Effector memory CCR4+ Tregs increase with age. Tregs, identified by gating on CD4+CD25+CD127low cells were compared based on four age groups.</p

Reagents and antibodies for Tfh panel.

Reagents and antibodies for Tfh panel.</p

Example of web-based data visualization tool.

Researchers have the ability to select reference ranges for flow cytometry panels of interest by age, gender, and race filters. This tool will calculate summary statistics on the selected population and the data may be downloaded for study. Links to cell ontology are present when applicable, and the gating strategies are available. Gating strategies and summary tables are also available.</p

Study population demographics.

Study population demographics.</p

Forest plot summarizing reference ranges for major lymphocyte subsets in the overall population.

References are shown for CD3+ T cells, CD4+ T cells, CD8+ T cells, Tfh cells, overall B cells, monocytes, NK cells, Tregs, and dendritic cells. Data are presented as means with 95% reference intervals calculated by non-parametric bootstrap.</p

Reagents and antibodies for HIPC panels.

Reagents and antibodies for HIPC panels.</p

Racial disparities in the distribution of innate cells.

A) Classical (CD14+CD16-) monocytes were decreased and B) non-classical (CD16+CD14-) were increased in African-Americans compared with Caucasians. C) The increase in CD16+CD14- populations in African-Americans was present in all age groups. D) In each age group, the frequency of CD14+ monocytes was higher in Caucasians compared to African-Americans. E) CD16+CD56- NK cell frequencies were increased in African-Americans compared to Caucasians, and the difference became larger in the older age groups. In C, D, and E, Caucasians are represented by blue bars and African-Americans by orange bars.</p

Identification of cell subsets in the blood.

T, B, and innate cells were identified according to HIPC guidelines. The Tfh panel is not part of the HIPC guidelines and markers were selected by the study team based on published medical literature.</p

A prospective study of fetal head growth, autistic traits and autism spectrum disorder

Altered trajectories of brain growth are often reported in Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), particularly during the first year of life. However, less is known about prenatal head growth trajectories, and no study has examined the relation with postnatal autistic symptom severity. The current study prospectively examined the association between fetal head growth and the spectrum of autistic symptom severity in two large population-based cohorts, including a sample of individuals with clinically diagnosed ASD. This study included 3,820 children from two longitudinal prenatal cohorts in The Netherlands and Australia, comprising 60 individuals with a confirmed diagnosis of ASD. Latent growth curve models were used to examine the relationship between fetal head circumference measured at three different time points and autistic traits measured in postnatal life using either the Social Responsiveness Scale or the Autism-Spectrum Quotient. While lower initial prenatal HC was weakly associated with increasing autistic traits in the Dutch cohort, this relationship was not observed in the Australian cohort, nor when the two cohorts were analysed together. No differences in prenatal head growth were found between individuals with ASD and controls. This large population-based study identified no consistent association across two cohorts between prenatal head growth and postnatal autistic traits. Our mixed findings suggest that further research in this area is needed. Autism Res 2018, 11: 602–612. © 2018 The Authors Autism Research published by International Society for Autism Research and Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Lay Summary: It is not known whether different patterns of postnatal brain growth in Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) also occurs prenatally. We examined fetal head growth and autistic symptoms in two large groups from The Netherlands and Australia. Lower initial prenatal head circumference was associated with autistic traits in the Dutch, but not the Australian, group. No differences in head growth were found in individuals with ASD and controls when the data was combined. Our mixed findings suggest that more research in this area is needed