Examining the role of genetic risk and longitudinal transmission processes underlying maternal parenting and psychopathology and children’s ADHD symptoms and aggression: utilizing the advantages of a prospective adoption design

Although genetic factors may contribute to initial liability for ADHD onset, there is growing evidence of the potential importance of the rearing environment on the developmental course of ADHD symptomatology. However, associations between family-level variables (maternal hostility, maternal depressive symptoms) and child behaviors (developmental course of ADHD and aggression) may be explained by genes that are shared by biologically related parents and children. Furthermore, ADHD symptoms and aggression commonly co-occur: it is important to consider both simultaneously to have a better understanding of processes underlying the developmental course of ADHD and aggression. To addresses these issues, we employed a longitudinal genetically sensitive parent–offspring adoption design. Analyses were conducted using Cohort I (n = 340) of the Early Growth and Development Study with cross-validation analyses conducted with Cohort II (n = 178). Adoptive mother hostility, but not depression, was associated with later child ADHD symptoms and aggression. Mothers and their adopted children were genetically unrelated, removing passive rGE as a possible explanation. Early child impulsivity/activation was associated with later ADHD symptoms and aggression. Child impulsivity/activation was also associated with maternal hostility, with some evidence for evocative gene-environment correlation processes on adoptive mother depressive symptoms. This study provides novel insights into family-based environmental influences on child ADHD and aggression symptoms, independent of shared parental genetic factors, implications of which are further explicated in the discussion

Caracterización de los Familiares de Pacientes Ingresados con Diagnóstico de Depresión

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), depression is a common mental disorder. It affects more than 300 million people in the world. The appearance in pediatric ages is increasing. A descriptive, prospective and cross-sectional investigation was carried out with the objective of characterizing the relatives of patients with a diagnosis of depression hospitalized in the Child Psychiatry service of the Provincial Pediatric Hospital "Mártires de Las Tunas", between January and December 2020. Epidemiological variables of the parents were determined, general knowledge about the disorder was evaluated and the myths present in them were identified. The universe was made up of 285 relatives of the patients admitted to the ward and the sample was made up of 26 relatives of the children with a depressive disorder. Descriptive statistics were used to organize and classify the quantitative indicators that were obtained through frequency distribution tables and graphs. The female gender, the ages between 36 and 45 years, the pre-university school level and the urban origin predominated. The mothers were the most notable kinship, the most frequent family pathological antecedents were suicide attempts and depressive disorder. The presence of myths and poor knowledge in parents and / or guardians about the general manifestations of depression in children was found. It emphasizes the need to continue working in the education of families promoting healthy life habits that prevent depression in children and adolescents, thus contributing to preserve child-youth mental health.Según la Organización Mundial de la Salud (OMS), la depresión es un trastorno mental frecuente. Afecta a más de 300 millones de personas en el mundo. La aparición en las edades pediátricas es creciente. Se realizó una investigación descriptiva, prospectiva y transversal con el objetivo de caracterizar a los familiares de pacientes con diagnóstico de depresion hospitalizados en el servicio de Psiquiatría Infantil del Hospital Pediátrico Provincial "Mártires de Las Tunas", entre enero y diciembre del 2020. Se determinaron variables epidemiológicas de los parentales, se evaluó conocimientos generales sobre el trastorno y se identificaron los mitos presentes en ellos. El universo lo constituyeron 285 familiares de los pacientes internados en sala y la muestra quedó conformada por 26 familiares de los menores con un trastorno depresivo. Se utilizó la estadística descriptiva que permitió organizar y clasificar los indicadores cuantitativos que se obtuvieron mediante tablas de distribución de frecuencias y gráficos. Predominó el género femenino, las edades entre 36 y 45 años, el nivel escolar preuniversitario y la procedencia urbana.  Las madres resultaron el parentesco más notorio,  los antecedentes patológicos familiares más frecuentes fueron los intentos suicidas y el trastorno depresivo. Se constató, la presencia de mitos y deficientes conocimientos en los padres y/o tutores sobre las manifestaciones generales de la depresión en niños. Se enfatiza en la necesidad de continuar trabajando en la educación de las familias promoviendo hábitos saludables de vida que permitan prevenir la depresión de niños y adolescentes contribuyendo así a preservar la salud mental Infanto-juvenil

Negative selection of human T cells recognizing a naturally-expressed tissue-restricted antigen in the human thymus

During T cell development in mice, thymic negative selection deletes cells with the potential to recognize and react to self-antigens. In human T cell-dependent autoimmune diseases such as Type 1 diabetes, multiple sclerosis, and rheumatoid arthritis, T cells reactive to autoantigens are thought to escape negative selection, traffic to the periphery and attack self-tissues. However, physiological thymic negative selection of autoreactive human T cells has not been previously studied. We now describe a human T-cell receptor-transgenic humanized mouse model that permits the study of autoreactive T-cell development in a human thymus. Our studies demonstrate that thymocytes expressing the autoreactive Clone 5 TCR, which recognizes insulin B:9\u201323 presented by HLA-DQ8, are efficiently negatively selected at the double and single positive stage in human immune systems derived from HLA-DQ8+ HSCs. In the absence of hematopoietic expression of the HLA restriction element, negative selection of Clone 5 is less efficient and restricted to the single positive stage. To our knowledge, these data provide the first demonstration of negative selection of human T cells recognizing a naturally-expressed tissue-restricted antigen. Intrathymic antigen presenting cells are required to delete less mature thymocytes, while presentation by medullary thymic epithelial cells may be sufficient to delete more mature single positive cells. These observations set the stage for investigation of putative defects in negative selection in human autoimmune diseases