Exposure to socioenvironmental stress as a predictor of physical and mental health.

The literature demonstrates links between socioenvironmental characteristics, dysregulation of the stress response system, and PTSD, though few studies integrate these factors in one model. In a secondary analysis of cross-sectional data collected by the Survey of the Health of Wisconsin (SHOW), structural equation modeling evaluated the relationships between socioenvironmental stress, cumulative biological risk (CBR), and PTSD symptom severity. The model hypothesized that exposure to socioenvironmental stress was associated with PTSD and that this relationship is mediated by increased CBR.

Screening and treating hospitalized trauma survivors for posttraumatic stress disorder and depression.

Traumatic injury affects over 2.6 million U.S.

Analyzing spatial correlations in tissue using angle-resolved low coherence interferometry measurements guided by co-located optical coherence tomography.

Angle-resolved low coherence interferometry (a/LCI) is an optical technique used to measure nuclear morphology in situ. However, a/LCI is not an imaging modality and can produce ambiguous results when the measurements are not properly oriented to the tissue architecture. Here we present a 2D a/LCI system which incorporates optical coherence tomography imaging to guide the measurements.

Ventriculomegaly associated with ependymal gliosis and declines in barrier integrity in the aging human and mouse brain.

Age-associated ventriculomegaly is typically attributed to neurodegeneration; however, additional factors might initiate or contribute to progressive ventricular expansion. By directly linking postmortem human MRI sequences with histological features of periventricular tissue, we show that substantial lateral ventricle surface gliosis is associated with ventriculomegaly. To examine whether loss of ependymal cell coverage resulting in ventricle surface glial scarring can lead directly to ventricle enlargement independent of any other injury or degenerative loss, we modeled in mice the glial scarring found along the lateral ventricle surface in aged humans.

Complement C1q formation of immune complexes with milk caseins and wheat glutens in schizophrenia.

Immune system factors including complement pathway activation are increasingly linked to the etiology and pathophysiology of schizophrenia. Complement protein, C1q, binds to and helps to clear immune complexes composed of immunoglobulins coupled to antigens. The antigenic stimuli for C1q activation in schizophrenia are not known.

Gastrointestinal inflammation and associated immune activation in schizophrenia.

Immune factors are implicated in normal brain development and in brain disorder pathogenesis. Pathogen infection and food antigen penetration across gastrointestinal barriers are means by which environmental factors might affect immune-related neurodevelopment. Here, we test if gastrointestinal inflammation is associated with schizophrenia and therefore, might contribute to bloodstream entry of potentially neurotropic milk and gluten exorphins and/or immune activation by food antigens.

Dietary antigens, epitope recognition, and immune complex formation in recent onset psychosis and long-term schizophrenia.

Peptides derived from dietary antigens such as bovine milk caseins are opioid receptor ligands and contribute to schizophrenia-associated hyperpeptidemia and hyperpeptiduria. The IgG antibody response to bovine caseins is increased in schizophrenia and recent onset psychosis. To identify specific casein peptide sequences that are antigenic in patients vs controls, we measured serum IgG binding to 10-26 amino acid long linear epitopes of casein with immunoassays for the entire group (n=95 recent onset psychosis; n=103 long-term schizophrenia; n=65 control), and with peptide microarray libraries in a casein-sensitive subset (n=14 recent onset; n=10 control).

Identification of long stress-induced non-coding transcripts that have altered expression in cancer.

It has recently become clear that the transcriptional output of the human genome is far more abundant than previously anticipated, with the vast majority of transcripts not coding for protein. Utilizing whole-genome tiling arrays, we analyzed the transcription across the entire genome in both normal human bronchial epithelial cells (NHBE) and NHBE cells exposed to the tobacco carcinogen NNK. Our efforts focused on the characterization of non-coding transcripts that were greater than 300 nucleotides in length and whose expression was increased in response to NNK.

Subunit and whole molecule specificity of the anti-bovine casein immune response in recent onset psychosis and schizophrenia.

Previous studies show increased antibody levels to bovine casein in some individuals with schizophrenia. The immunogenicity of specific domains of bovine casein varies among people with milk sensitivities and thus could vary among different neuropsychiatric disorders. Using ELISAs and immunoblotting, we characterized IgG class antibody specificity to whole bovine casein and to the alpha(s), beta, and kappa subunits in individuals with recent onset psychosis (n=95), long-term schizophrenia (n=103), and non-psychiatric controls (n=65).

Long, abundantly expressed non-coding transcripts are altered in cancer.

Recent studies with tiling arrays have revealed more genomic transcription than previously anticipated. Whole new groups of non-coding transcripts (NCTs) have been detected. Some of these NCTs, including miRNAs, can regulate gene expression.