Word Recognition Memory in Adults with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder as Reflected by Event-Related Potentials

Objective: Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is increasingly diagnosed in adults. In this study we address the question whether there are impairments in recognition memory. Methods: In the present study 13 adults diagnosed with ADHD according to DSM-IV and 13 healthy controls were examined with respect to event-related potentials (ERPs) in a visual continuous word recognition paradigm to gain information about recognition memory effects in these patients. Results: The amplitude of one attention-related ERP component, the N1, was significantly increased for the ADHD adults compared with the healthy controls in the occipital electrodes. The ERPs for the second presentation were significantly more positive than the ERPs for the first presentation. This effect did not significantly differ between groups. Conclusion: Neuronal activity related to an early attentional mechanism appears to be enhanced in ADHD patients. Concerning the early or the late part of the old/new effect ADHD patients show no difference which suggests that there are no differences with respect to recollection and familiarity-based recognition processes

BEYOND CHILDHOOD: PSYCHIATRIC COMORBIDITIES AND SOCIAL BACKGROUND OF ADULTS WITH ASPERGER SYNDROME

Background: Over the past few years, our knowledge about Asperger syndrome (AS) has increased enormously. Although it used to be a syndrome mainly encountered in childhood and adolescent psychiatry, it is now increasingly recognized in adult psychiatry. Nevertheless, little is known about psychiatric comorbidities and life course of adults with AS. The current study aimed to gain an insight into comorbidities and the development of the social situation of adults with AS. Subjects and methods: We investigated psychiatric comorbidities, psychiatric history, professional background, partnerships, and children in 50 adults with AS (34 men and 16 women) over a broad age range (20–62 years). Results: Seventy percent of adults with AS had at least one psychiatric comorbiditiy. Most frequent comorbidities were depression and anxiety disorders. Obsessive–compulsive disorder and alcohol abuse/dependence were also observed. Many adults had previously been treated with psychopharmacological or psychotherapeutic interventions. Although most adults had a high-level school leaving certificate and had gone on to complete training/university studies, less than half were currently in employment. Fourteen adults were living in a partnership and 10 had children. Conclusions: Adults with AS often have psychiatric comorbidities, indicating lower levels of mental health. Additionally, they seem to have severe limitations concerning professional success, despite having a good school education. Their family situation is also impaired with regard to starting a family. These considerable limitations in the life of adults with AS may help to understand their specific problems, and emphasize the importance of developing specific treatments for improving their mental health and social integration

Neuronal correlates of ADHD in adults with evidence for compensation strategies – a functional MRI study with a Go/No-Go paradigm

Objective: Response inhibition impairment is one of the most characteristic symptoms of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Thus functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) during a Go/No-Go task seems to be an ideal tool for examining neuronal correlates of inhibitory control deficits in ADHD. Prior studies have shown frontostriatal abnormalities in children and adolescents. The aim of our study was to investigate whether adults with ADHD would still show abnormal brain activation in prefrontal brain regions during motor response inhibition tasks

ASPERGER SYNDROME: A FREQUENT COMORBIDITY IN FIRST DIAGNOSED ADULT ADHD PATIENTS?

Background: Because adult ADHD is often accompanied by psychiatric comorbidities, the diagnostic process should include a thorough investigation for comorbid disorders. Asperger-Syndrome is rarely reported in adult ADHD and commonly little attention is paid to this possible comorbidity. Subjects and methods: We investigated 53 adult ADHD-patients which visited our out patient clinic for first ADHD-diagnosis (17 females, 36 males; range of age: 18-56 years) for the frequency of a comorbid Asperger-Syndrome. Diagnosis of this autismspectrum disorder was confirmed by applying the appropriate DSM-IV-criteria. Additionally we tested the power of the two screening-instruments “Autism-spectrum quotient“ (AQ) and “Empathy quotient“ (EQ) by Baron-Cohen for screening Asperger- Syndrome in adult ADHD. Results: Eight ADHD-patients were diagnosed with a comorbid Asperger-Syndrome (15.1%). The difference in AQ- and EQscores between pure ADHD-patients and comorbid patients was analysed, showing significantly higher scores in AQ and significant lower scores in EQ in comorbid patients. Conclusions: Results show that the frequency of Asperger-Syndrome seems to be substantially increased in adult ADHD (versus the prevalence of 0.06% in the general population), indicating that investigators of adult ADHD should also be attentive to autismspectrum disorders. Especially the AQ seems to be a potential screening instrument for Asperger-Syndrome in adult ADHD-patients

Genomic-scale Analysis of Bacterial Gene and Protein Expression in the Host

DNA microarrays and proteomics are used to study bacterial gene and protein expression during infections

Molecular Analysis of Serum and Bronchoalveolar Lavage in a Mouse Model of Influenza Reveals Markers of Disease Severity That Can Be Clinically Useful in Humans

Background: Management of influenza, a major contributor to the worldwide disease burden, is complicated by lack of reliable methods for early identification of susceptible individuals. Identification of molecular markers that can augment existing diagnostic tools for prediction of severity can be expected to greatly improve disease management capabilities. Methodology/Principal Findings: We have analyzed cytokines, proteome flux and protein adducts in bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) and sera from mice infected with influenza A virus (PR8 strain) using a previously established non-lethal model of influenza infection. Through detailed cytokine and protein adduct measurements of murine BAL, we first established the temporal profile of innate and adaptive responses as well as macrophage and neutrophil activities in response to influenza infection. A similar analysis was also performed with sera from a longitudinal cohort of influenza patients. We then used an iTRAQ-based, comparative serum proteome analysis to catalog the proteome flux in the murine BAL during the stages correlating with “peak viremia,” “inflammatory damage,” as well as the “recovery phase.” In addition to activation of acute phase responses, a distinct class of lung proteins including surfactant proteins was found to be depleted from the BAL coincident with their “appearance” in the serum, presumably due to leakage of the protein following loss of the integrity of the lung/epithelial barrier. Serum levels of at least two of these proteins were elevated in influenza patients during the febrile phase of infection compared to healthy controls or to the same patients at convalescence. Conclusions/Significance: The findings from this study provide a molecular description of disease progression in a mouse model of influenza and demonstrate its potential for translation into a novel class of markers for measurement of acute lung injury and improved case management.Singapore. National Research FoundationSingapore-MIT Alliance for Research and Technology (ID-IRG research program

Proteomic analysis of the action of the Mycobacterium ulcerans toxin mycolactone: targeting host cells cytoskeleton and collagen

Buruli ulcer (BU) is a neglected tropical disease caused by Mycobacterium ulcerans. The tissue damage characteristic of BU lesions is known to be driven by the secretion of the potent lipidic exotoxin mycolactone. However, the molecular action of mycolactone on host cell biology mediating cytopathogenesis is not fully understood. Here we applied two-dimensional electrophoresis (2-DE) to identify the mechanisms of mycolactone's cellular action in the L929 mouse fibroblast proteome. This revealed 20 changed spots corresponding to 18 proteins which were clustered mainly into cytoskeleton-related proteins (Dync1i2, Cfl1, Crmp2, Actg1, Stmn1) and collagen biosynthesis enzymes (Plod1, Plod3, P4ha1). In line with cytoskeleton conformational disarrangements that are observed by immunofluorescence, we found several regulators and constituents of both actin- and tubulin-cytoskeleton affected upon exposure to the toxin, providing a novel molecular basis for the effect of mycolactone. Consistent with these cytoskeleton-related alterations, accumulation of autophagosomes as well as an increased protein ubiquitination were observed in mycolactone-treated cells. In vivo analyses in a BU mouse model revealed mycolactone-dependent structural changes in collagen upon infection with M. ulcerans, associated with the reduction of dermal collagen content, which is in line with our proteomic finding of mycolactone-induced down-regulation of several collagen biosynthesis enzymes. Our results unveil the mechanisms of mycolactone-induced molecular cytopathogenesis on exposed host cells, with the toxin compromising cell structure and homeostasis by inducing cytoskeleton alterations, as well as disrupting tissue structure, by impairing the extracellular matrix biosynthesis.The research leading to these results has received funding from the European Community's Seventh Framework Program (FP7/2007-2013) under grant agreement Nu 241500 (BuruliVac), from Fundacao Calouste Gulbenkian and from Projeto Estrategico - LA 26 - 2013-2014 (PEst-C/SAU/LA0026/2013). JBG, TGM and AGF had a personal grant from the Portuguese Science and Technology Foundation (FCT) (SFRH/BD/33573/2009, SFRH/BD/41598/2007 and SFRH/BPD/68547/2010, respectively). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript

Integrative Analysis of the Mitochondrial Proteome in Yeast

In this study yeast mitochondria were used as a model system to apply, evaluate, and integrate different genomic approaches to define the proteins of an organelle. Liquid chromatography mass spectrometry applied to purified mitochondria identified 546 proteins. By expression analysis and comparison to other proteome studies, we demonstrate that the proteomic approach identifies primarily highly abundant proteins. By expanding our evaluation to other types of genomic approaches, including systematic deletion phenotype screening, expression profiling, subcellular localization studies, protein interaction analyses, and computational predictions, we show that an integration of approaches moves beyond the limitations of any single approach. We report the success of each approach by benchmarking it against a reference set of known mitochondrial proteins, and predict approximately 700 proteins associated with the mitochondrial organelle from the integration of 22 datasets. We show that a combination of complementary approaches like deletion phenotype screening and mass spectrometry can identify over 75% of the known mitochondrial proteome. These findings have implications for choosing optimal genome-wide approaches for the study of other cellular systems, including organelles and pathways in various species. Furthermore, our systematic identification of genes involved in mitochondrial function and biogenesis in yeast expands the candidate genes available for mapping Mendelian and complex mitochondrial disorders in humans

The screens culture: impact on ADHD

Children’s use of electronic media, including Internet and video gaming, has increased dramatically to an average in the general population of roughly 3 h per day. Some children cannot control their Internet use leading to increasing research on “internet addiction.” The objective of this article is to review the research on ADHD as a risk factor for Internet addiction and gaming, its complications, and what research and methodological questions remain to be addressed. The literature search was done in PubMed and Psychinfo, as well as by hand. Previous research has demonstrated rates of Internet addiction as high as 25% in the population and that it is addiction more than time of use that is best correlated with psychopathology. Various studies confirm that psychiatric disorders, and ADHD in particular, are associated with overuse, with severity of ADHD specifically correlated with the amount of use. ADHD children may be vulnerable since these games operate in brief segments that are not attention demanding. In addition, they offer immediate rewards with a strong incentive to increase the reward by trying the next level. The time spent on these games may also exacerbate ADHD symptoms, if not directly then through the loss of time spent on more developmentally challenging tasks. While this is a major issue for many parents, there is no empirical research on effective treatment. Internet and off-line gaming overuse and addiction are serious concerns for ADHD youth. Research is limited by the lack of measures for youth or parents, studies of children at risk, and studies of impact and treatment

Updated European Consensus Statement on diagnosis and treatment of adult ADHD

Background Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is among the most common psychiatric disorders of childhood that often persists into adulthood and old age. Yet ADHD is currently underdiagnosed and undertreated in many European countries, leading to chronicity of symptoms and impairment, due to lack of, or ineffective treatment, and higher costs of illness. Methods The European Network Adult ADHD and the Section for Neurodevelopmental Disorders Across the Lifespan (NDAL) of the European Psychiatric Association (EPA), aim to increase awareness and knowledge of adult ADHD in and outside Europe. This Updated European Consensus Statement aims to support clinicians with research evidence and clinical experience from 63 experts of European and other countries in which ADHD in adults is recognized and treated. Results Besides reviewing the latest research on prevalence, persistence, genetics and neurobiology of ADHD, three major questions are addressed: (1) What is the clinical picture of ADHD in adults? (2) How should ADHD be properly diagnosed in adults? (3) How should adult ADHDbe effectively treated? Conclusions ADHD often presents as a lifelong impairing condition. The stigma surrounding ADHD, mainly due to lack of knowledge, increases the suffering of patients. Education on the lifespan perspective, diagnostic assessment, and treatment of ADHD must increase for students of general and mental health, and for psychiatry professionals. Instruments for screening and diagnosis of ADHD in adults are available, as are effective evidence-based treatments for ADHD and its negative outcomes. More research is needed on gender differences, and in older adults with ADHD. (c) 2018 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Masson SAS.Peer reviewe