Variation in the μ-opioid receptor gene (OPRM1) moderates the influence of early maternal care on fearful attachment

There is evidence that both early experience and genetic variation play a role in influencing sensitivity to social rejection. In this study, we aimed at ascertaining if the A118G polymorphism of the k-opioid receptor gene (OPRM1) moderates the impact of early maternal care on fearful attachment, a personality trait strongly related to rejection sensitivity. In 112 psychiatric patients, early maternal care and fearful attachment were measured using the Parental Bonding Inventory and the Relationship Questionnaire (RQ), respectively. The pattern emerging from the RQ data was a crossover interaction between genotype and maternal caregiving. Participants expressing the minor 118 G allele had similar and relatively high scores on fearful attachment regardless of the quality of maternal care. By contrast, early experience made a major difference for participants carrying the A/A genotype. Those who recalled higher levels of maternal care reported the lowest levels of fearful attachment whereas those who recalled lower levels of maternal care scored highest on fearful attachment. Our data fit well with the differential susceptibility model which stipulates that plasticity genes would make some individuals more responsive than others to the negative consequences of adversity and to the benefits of environmental support and enrichment

Weather impacts expressed sentiment

We conduct the largest ever investigation into the relationship between meteorological conditions and the sentiment of human expressions. To do this, we employ over three and a half billion social media posts from tens of millions of individuals from both Facebook and Twitter between 2009 and 2016. We find that cold temperatures, hot temperatures, precipitation, narrower daily temperature ranges, humidity, and cloud cover are all associated with worsened expressions of sentiment, even when excluding weather-related posts. We compare the magnitude of our estimates with the effect sizes associated with notable historical events occurring within our data.This work was supported by Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad: FIS2013-47532-C3-3-P, FIS2016-78904-C3-3-P (http://www.mineco.gob.es/); and National Science Foundation DGE0707423, TG-SES130013, 0903551 (https://www.nsf.gov/). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript

Recurrence of immunoglobulin A nephropathy after kidney transplantation: a narrative review on incidence, risk factors, pathophysiology and management of immunosuppressive therapy

Abstract Glomerulonephritis (GN) is the underlying cause of end-stage renal failure in 30–50% of kidney transplant recipients. It represents the primary cause of end-stage renal disease for 25% of the dialysis population and 45% of the transplant population. For patients with GN requiring renal replacement therapy, kidney transplantation is associated with superior outcomes compared with dialysis. Recurrent GN was previously considered to be a minor contributor to graft loss, but with the prolongation of graft survival, the effect of recurrent disease on graft outcome assumes increasing importance. Thus the extent of recurrence of original kidney disease after kidney transplantation has been underestimated for several reasons. This review aims to provide updated knowledge on one particular recurrent renal disease after kidney transplantation, immunoglobulin A nephropathy (IgAN). IgAN is one of the most common GNs worldwide. The pathogenesis of IgAN is complex and remains incompletely understood. Evidence to date is most supportive of a several hit hypothesis. Biopsy is mandatory not only to diagnose the disease in the native kidney, but also to identify and characterize graft recurrence of IgAN in the kidney graft. The optimal therapy for IgAN recurrence in the renal graft is unknown. Supportive therapy aiming to reduce proteinuria and control hypertension is the mainstream, with corticosteroids and immunosuppressive treatment tailored for certain subgroups of patients experiencing a rapidly progressive course of the disease with active lesions on renal biopsy and considering safety issues related to infectious complications