71 research outputs found
White Matter Microstructure and Atypical Visual Orienting in 7-Month-Olds at Risk for Autism
The authors sought to determine whether specific patterns of oculomotor functioning and visual orienting characterize 7-month-old infants who later meet criteria for an autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and to identify the neural correlates of these behaviors
Facial Identity Recognition in the Broader Autism Phenotype
Peer reviewedPublisher PD
Role of IL-1 Beta in the Development of Human TH17 Cells: Lesson from NLPR3 Mutated Patients
T helper 17 cells (T(H)-17) represent a lineage of effector T cells critical in host defence and autoimmunity. In both mouse and human IL-1β has been indicated as a key cytokine for the commitment to T(H)-17 cells. Cryopyrin-associated periodic syndromes (CAPS) are a group of inflammatory diseases associated with mutations of the NLRP3 gene encoding the inflammasome component cryopyrin. In this work we asked whether the deregulated secretion of IL-1β secondary to mutations characterizing these patients could affect the IL-23/IL-17 axis.A total of 11 CAPS, 26 systemic onset juvenile idiopathic arthritis (SoJIA) patients and 20 healthy controls were analyzed. Serum levels of IL-17 and IL-6 serum were assessed by ELISA assay. Frequency of T(H)17 cells was quantified upon staphylococcus enterotoxin B (SEB) stimulation. Secretion of IL-1β, IL-23 and IL-6 by monocyte derived dendritic cells (MoDCs), were quantified by ELISA assay. A total of 8 CAPS and 11 SoJIA patients were also analysed before and after treatment with IL-1β blockade. Untreated CAPS patients showed significantly increased IL-17 serum levels as well as a higher frequency of T(H)17 compared to control subjects. On the contrary, SoJIA patients displayed a frequency of T(H)17 similar to normal donors, but were found to have significantly increased serum level of IL-6 when compared to CAPS patients or healthy donors. Remarkably, decreased IL-17 serum levels and T(H)17 frequency were observed in CAPS patients following in vivo IL-1β blockade. On the same line, MoDCs from CAPS patients exhibited enhanced secretion of IL-1β and IL-23 upon TLRs stimulation, with a reduction after anti-IL-1 treatment.These findings further support the central role of IL-1β in the differentiation of T(H)17 in human inflammatory conditions
Influence of pre-operative diagnosis and frozen section on operative management of pancreatic cystic lesions
Background. Frozen section analysis of cyst wall has been advocated as standard of care prior to surgical drainage of pancreatic pseudocysts. Recent studies have indicated that frozen section may be unreliable. Our aim was to investigate the role and accuracy of frozen section analysis of the cyst wall in the operative management of pancreatic cystic lesions. Methods. A retrospective review was performed of 44 patients who underwent operation for a cystic lesion of the pancreas. Results. Of the 25 patients with a diagnosis of pseudocyst, 9 patients had frozen section intra-operatively. Eight frozen sections demonstrated pseudocyst, and correlated with final pathology. One frozen section demonstrated a true cyst. Twenty-three patients had a final diagnosis of pseudocyst. Nineteen patients had a diagnosis of cystic neoplasm, and six patients had frozen sections. Three frozen sections were consistent with cystic neoplasm and correlated with final pathology. Three frozen sections demonstrated characteristics of pseudocyst, two correlated with final pathology, and one showed cystic neoplasm on final pathology. Conclusion. Routine use of frozen section may not be necessary; however, frozen section is useful when the intra-operative appearance does not correlate with pre-operative diagnosis
White Matter Microstructure and Atypical Visual Orienting in 7-Month-Olds at Risk for Autism
Objective: The authors sought to determine
whether specific patterns of oculomotor
functioning and visual orienting
characterize 7-month-old infants who later
meet criteria for an autism spectrum
disorder (ASD) and to identify the neural
correlates of these behaviors.
Method: Data were collected from 97
infants, of whom 16 were high-familialrisk
infants later classified as having an
ASD, 40 were high-familial-risk infants
who did not later meet ASD criteria
(high-risk negative), and 41 were lowrisk
infants. All infants underwent an eyetracking
task at a mean age of 7 months
and a clinical assessment at a mean age
of 25 months. Diffusion-weighted imaging
data were acquired for 84 of the
infants at 7 months. Primary outcome
measures included average saccadic reaction
time in a visually guided saccade
procedure and radial diffusivity (an index
of white matter organization) in fiber
tracts that included corticospinal pathways
and the splenium and genu of the
corpus callosum.
Results: Visual orienting latencies were
longer in 7-month-old infants who expressed
ASD symptoms at 25 months
compared with both high-risk negative
infants and low-risk infants. Visual orienting
latencies were uniquely associated
with the microstructural organization of
the splenium of the corpus callosum in
low-risk infants, but this association was
not apparent in infants later classified as
having an ASD.
Conclusions: Flexiblyandefficientlyorienting
to salient information in the environment
is critical for subsequent cognitive
and social-cognitive development. Atypical
visual orienting may represent an early
prodromal feature of an ASD, and abnormal
functional specialization of posterior
cortical circuits directly informs a novel
model of ASD pathogenesis
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