Evidence for association between Disrupted-in-schizophrenia 1 (DISC1) gene polymorphisms and autism in Chinese Han population: a family-based association study

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Disrupted-in-Schizophrenia 1 (<it>DISC1</it>) gene is one of the most promising candidate genes for major mental disorders. In a previous study, a Finnish group demonstrated that <it>DISC1 </it>polymorphisms were associated with autism and Asperger syndrome. However, the results were not replicated in Korean population. To determine whether <it>DISC1 </it>is associated with autism in Chinese Han population, we performed a family-based association study between <it>DISC1 </it>polymorphisms and autism.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>We genotyped seven tag single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in <it>DISC1</it>, spanning 338 kb, in 367 autism trios (singleton and their biological parents) including 1,101 individuals. Single SNP association and haplotype association analysis were performed using the family-based association test (FBAT) and Haploview software.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>We found three SNPs showed significant associations with autism (rs4366301: G > C, Z = 2.872, <it>p </it>= 0.004; rs11585959: T > C, Z = 2.199, <it>p </it>= 0.028; rs6668845: A > G, Z = 2.326, <it>p </it>= 0.02). After the Bonferroni correction, SNP rs4366301, which located in the first intron of <it>DISC1</it>, remained significant. When haplotype were constructed with two-markers, three haplotypes displayed significant association with autism. These results were still significant after using the permutation method to obtain empirical <it>p </it>values.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Our study provided evidence that the <it>DISC1 </it>may be the susceptibility gene of autism. It suggested <it>DISC1 </it>might play a role in the pathogenesis of autism.</p

Children with Autism in the People’s Republic of China: Diagnosis, Legal Issues, and Educational Services

Since the late 1970s, special education in the People’s Republic of China has experienced significant reform and fast development. However, education for children with severe developmental disabilities, especially autism spectrum disorders (ASDs), is still the greatest challenge in the field. This paper aims to give readers an overview of what is happening to children with ASDs in China. We first address the issue of prevalence of ASDs, and then offer an introduction to the diagnostic process. After that, a review of disability-related legislation is provided, followed by a description of current treatment options and available educational services. Finally we introduce all extent service providers and their roles

The Use of linguistic cues in sentence comprehension by Mandarin-speaking children with high-functioning autism

Two studies were conducted to investigate how high-functioning children with autism use different linguistic cues in sentence comprehension. Two types of linguistic cues were investigated: word order and morphosyntactic cues. The results show that children with autism can use both types of cues in sentence comprehension. However, compared to age-matched typically developing peers, children with autism relied significantly more on word order cues and exhibited significantly more difficulties in interpreting sentences in which there was a conflict between the morphosyntactic cue and the word order cue. We attribute the difficulties exhibited by children with autism to their deficits in executive function. We then discuss the implications of the findings for understanding the nature of the sentence processing mechanism in autism.16 page(s

The Use of grammatical morphemes by Mandarin-speaking children with high functioning autism

The present study investigated the production of grammatical morphemes by Mandarin-speaking children with high functioning autism. Previous research found that a subgroup of English-speaking children with autism exhibit deficits in the use of grammatical morphemes that mark tense. In order to see whether this impairment in grammatical morphology can be generalised to children with autism from other languages, the present study examined whether or not high-functioning Mandarin-speaking children with autism also exhibit deficits in using grammatical morphemes that mark aspect. The results show that Mandarin-speaking children with autism produced grammatical morphemes significantly less often than age-matched and IQ-matched TD peers as well as MLU-matched TD peers. The implications of these findings for understanding the grammatical abilities of children with autism were discussed.9 page(s

Association between Metformin Use and Coronary Artery Calcification in Type 2 Diabetic Patients

Objectives. Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is associated with coronary artery calcification (CAC) which is an independent risk factor for cardiovascular events. Metformin is the first-line antidiabetic medication. We aimed to investigate the association between metformin use and CAC. Methods. We included 369 patients with T2DM in this cross-sectional study. CAC scores, clinical characteristics, and antidiabetic drug prescription information of the patients were acquired. Baseline parameters were balanced for metformin and nonmetformin users using the propensity score matching (PSM) strategy. Results. Among the 369 subjects who met our inclusion criteria, 288 subjects were included for further analysis after PSM. Metformin prescription rather than other antidiabetic medications was related to lower CAC scores (OR [95% CI] = 0.55 [0.34–0.90]; P=0.018). Further multivariable logistic regression analysis demonstrated that metformin was negatively associated with CAC severity (OR [95% CI] = 0.58 [0.34–0.99]; P=0.048), which was independent of age, BMI, eGFR, gender, cigarette smoking, duration of diabetes, hypertension, statin prescription, and number of nonmetformin antidiabetic agents. A subgroup analysis revealed a significant association between metformin and CAC scores in smokers (OR [95% CI] = 0.38 [0.16–0.93]; P=0.035), but the association was not observed in never-smokers (OR [95% CI] = 0.72 [0.34–1.51]; P=0.383). Conclusions. Metformin usage was independently associated with lower CAC scores in T2DM patients. The negative correlation between CAC scores and metformin was most prominent in patients with a history of cigarette smoking