Primiparas’ prenatal depressive symptoms, anxiety, and salivary oxytocin level predict early postnatal maternal–infant bonding: a Japanese longitudinal study

The version of record of this article, first published in Archives of Women's Mental Health, is available online at Publisher’s website: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00737-024-01441-5.Purpose: It was reported that maternal-infant bonding failure predicts abusive parenting. Maternal-infant bonding is important to prevent child abuse. This study aimed to investigate the association between prenatal depressive symptoms, anxiety, cortisol, and oxytocin levels, and postnatal maternal–infant bonding. Methods: The participants completed a self-report prenatal questionnaire that included the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) and State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) in the second trimester. Blood and saliva were collected in the second trimester. Cortisol levels were measured in plasma, while oxytocin levels were measured in saliva. Postnatal questionnaires, including the Mother-to-Infant Bonding Scale (MIBS), were administered at 2–5 days, 1 month, and 3 months postpartum. Multiple linear regression and generalized estimating equation (GEE) were conducted for analysis. Results: Sixty-six primiparas participated in the study. Prenatal depressive symptoms (EPDS ≥ 9) and anxiety (STAI-S ≥ 42) were observed in 21.2% and 28.8% of the participants, respectively. The median cortisol and oxytocin levels were 21.0 µg/dL and 30.4 pg/mL, respectively. Multivariate linear regression showed that postnatal social support, prenatal depressive symptoms, anxiety, and salivary oxytocin levels predicted MIBS scores at 2–5 days postpartum. At 1 month postpartum, household income, history of miscarriage, postnatal social support, and prenatal anxiety predicted MIBS scores. At 3 months postpartum, only postnatal social support predicted MIBS scores. The results of GEE showed that prenatal anxiety, oxytocin levels, postpartum period, household income, and postpartum social support were associated with MIBS scores. Conclusion: Prenatal depressive symptoms, anxiety, and lower salivary oxytocin levels were predicted to worsen maternal–infant bonding at 2–5 days postpartum. Prenatal anxiety was predicted to cause the same 1 month postpartum. Measuring prenatal depressive symptoms, anxiety, and salivary oxytocin levels may render the assessment of the risk of maternal–infant bonding failure during the early postpartum period and intervene during pregnancy possible

Iron Chelation Therapy with Deferasirox Results in Improvement of Liver Enzyme Level in Patients with Iron Overload-Associated Liver Dysfunction

Iron chelation therapy (ICT) has been applied for the patients with iron overload-associated liver dysfunction since it is one of the causes of death in patients with intractable hematological diseases requiring multiple red blood cell transfusions. Recently, deferasirox (DSX), a novel, once-daily oral iron chelator, was demonstrated to have similar efficacy to the conventional continuous infusion of deferoxamine on a decrease in serum ferritin (SF) level in heavily transfused patients. We show three cases of transfusion-mediated iron-overloaded patients with an elevated serum alanine aminotransaminase (ALT). All three patients who received the ICT with DSX showed a decrease in ALT level in association with a decrease in SF level. It is suggested that DSX therapy could be considered to expect the improvement of liver damage for iron-overloaded patients with an abnormal ALT level

A developmental study of drawing expression in young children

The present study examined the development of drawing expression in young children, especially the transition between intellectual realism and visual realism, by comparing what they drew with imagination and what they drew while looking at a model. Forty-five children (three age groups: 3-4, 4-5, and 5-6 year olds; n = 15, 16, 14, respectively) participated in this study. First, they were instructed to draw a lion without looking at anything (the imagination task). Next, they drew a lion while looking at a photo of a lion (the imitation task). We checked on each drawing for the presence of lion’s component parts (eyes, mouth, nose, ears, mane, head, body, four legs, tail, and color). In addition, each drawing was evaluated whether it seemed to lion. The results revealed the following: 1) Young children were able to draw more lion’s parts on the imitation task than the imagination task. 2) Four-five year-olds and 5-6 year-olds were able to draw more parts than 3-4 year-olds. 3) The transition from intellectual realism to visual realism occurred approximately between five and six years of age. 4) It was shown by evaluation that older children’s drawing had captured the more distinctive features of lion than younger children’s one

Ebf3⁺ niche-derived CXCL12 is required for the localization and maintenance of hematopoietic stem cells

Lympho-hematopoiesis is regulated by cytokines; however, it remains unclear how cytokines regulate hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) to induce production of lymphoid progenitors. Here, we show that in mice whose CXC chemokine ligand 12 (CXCL12) is deleted from half HSC niche cells, termed CXC chemokine ligand 12 (CXCL12)-abundant reticular (CAR) cells, HSCs migrate from CXCL12-deficient niches to CXCL12-intact niches. In mice whose CXCL12 is deleted from all Ebf3+/leptin receptor (LepR)+ CAR cells, HSCs are markedly reduced and their ability to generate B cell progenitors is reduced compared with that to generate myeloid progenitors even when transplanted into wild-type mice. Additionally, CXCL12 enables the maintenance of B lineage repopulating ability of HSCs in vitro. These results demonstrate that CAR cell-derived CXCL12 attracts HSCs to CAR cells within bone marrow and plays a critical role in the maintenance of HSCs, especially lymphoid-biased or balanced HSCs. This study suggests an additional mechanism by which cytokines act on HSCs to produce B cells.Nakatani T., Sugiyama T., Omatsu Y., et al. Ebf3+ niche-derived CXCL12 is required for the localization and maintenance of hematopoietic stem cells. Nature Communications 14, 6402 (2023); https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-023-42047-2

Dietary Cholic Acid Exacerbates Liver Fibrosis in NASH Model of Sprague–Dawley Rats Fed a High-Fat and High-Cholesterol Diet

Background: Recently, we established a novel rodent model of nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) with advanced fibrosis induced by a high-fat and high-cholesterol (HFC) diet containing cholic acid (CA), which is known to cause hepatotoxicity. The present study aimed to elucidate the direct impact of dietary CA on the progression of NASH induced by feeding the HFC diet. Methods: Nine-week-old male Sprague–Dawley rats were randomly assigned to receive a normal, HFC, or CA-supplemented (0.1%, 0.5% or 2.0%, w/w) HFC diet for 9 weeks. Results: Histopathological assessment revealed that the supplementation of CA dose-dependently aggravated hepatic steatosis, inflammation, and fibrosis, reaching stage 4 cirrhosis in the 2.0% CA diet group. In contrast, the rats that were fed the HFC diet without any added CA developed mild steatosis and inflammation without fibrosis. The hepatic cholesterol content and mRNA expression involved in inflammatory response and fibrogenesis was higher in a CA dose-dependent manner. The hepatic chenodeoxycholic acid levels were higher in 2.0% CA diet group than in the control, although hepatic levels of total bile acid and CA did not increase dose-dependently with CA intake. Conclusion: Adding CA to the HFC diet altered bile acid metabolism and inflammatory response and triggered the development of fibrosis in the rat liver