Phase angle between dim light melatonin onset and sleep timing during residential treatment prospectively predicts obsessive-compulsive symptoms.

The relation between obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and circadian rhythm disturbance has been increasingly acknowledged in recent years. While prior clinical studies have utilized patients' self-reported sleep behaviors, there is a need to also explore the measurable, biological aspects of circadian rhythms. The current study has two aims: first, to describe the biological circadian rhythms of individuals with OCD seeking intensive residential treatment, including their relationship with self-reported measures of sleep and OCD symptoms; and second, to examine longitudinal associations between biological circadian rhythms and OCD symptom severity during the course of residential treatment.

T cells regulate intestinal motility and shape enteric neuronal responses to intestinal microbiota.

How the gut microbiota and immune system maintain intestinal homeostasis in concert with the enteric nervous system (ENS) remains incompletely understood. To address this gap, we assessed small intestinal transit, enteric neuronal density, enteric neurogenesis, intestinal microbiota, immune cell populations and cytokines in wildtype and T-cell deficient germ-free mice colonized with specific pathogen-free (SPF) microbiota, conventionally raised SPF and segmented filamentous bacteria (SFB)-monocolonized mice. SPF microbiota increased small intestinal transit in a T cell-dependent manner.

Preliminary report: Sleep duration during late pregnancy predicts postpartum emotional responses among parents at risk for postpartum depression.

Introduction: Sleep loss is common during the perinatal period; however, few studies have assessed potential consequences of insufficient sleep for postnatal emotional responding, a key contributor to parenting behaviors with implications for parent-infant bonding and mental health. To generate hypotheses for future work assessing perinatal sleep and emotion-related outcomes, this pilot study explored whether prenatal sleep duration predicted postnatal emotional responding in a sample at risk for postpartum depression.

Methods: Participants were nine birthing parents with a prior mood disorder who were not in a current episode at enrollment.

Sex-specific post-inflammatory dysbiosis mediates chronic visceral pain in colitis.

Background: Despite achieving endoscopic remission, over 20% of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) patients experience chronic abdominal pain. Visceral pain and the microbiome exhibit sex-dependent interactions, while visceral pain in IBD shows a sex bias. Our aim was to evaluate whether post-inflammatory microbial perturbations contribute to visceral hypersensitivity in a sex-dependent manner.

Reduced Stroke Volume and Brain Perfusion Drive Postural Hyperventilation in Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome.

Postural hyperventilation has been implicated as a cause of postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS), yet the precise mechanisms underlying the heightened breathing response remain unclear. This study challenges current hypotheses by revealing that exaggerated peripheral chemoreceptor activity is not the primary driver of postural hyperventilation. Instead, significant contributions from reduced stroke volume and compromised brain perfusion during orthostatic stress were identified.

Longitudinal analysis of glymphatic function in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and primary lateral sclerosis.

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a neurodegenerative disorder of motor neurons in the brain and spinal cord. Accumulation of misfolded proteins is central to the pathogenesis of ALS and the glymphatic system is emerging as a potential therapeutic target to reduce proteinopathy. Using diffusion tensor imaging analysis along the perivascular spaces (DTI-ALPS) to assess glymphatic function, we performed a longitudinal analysis of glymphatic function in ALS and compared it to a disorder in the motor neuron disease spectrum, primary lateral sclerosis (PLS).

Does sleep link child maltreatment to depressive symptoms among incoming first-year college students?

Study Objectives: We examined whether sleep (i.e. quality, regularity, and duration) mediated associations between child maltreatment (CM) and depressive symptoms among emerging adults undergoing the major life transition of starting college.

Brain-body mechanisms contribute to sexual dimorphism in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is the most common form of human motor neuron disease. It is characterized by the progressive degeneration of upper and lower motor neurons, leading to generalized motor weakness and, ultimately, respiratory paralysis and death within 3-5 years. The disease is shaped by genetics, age, sex and environmental stressors, but no cure or routine biomarkers exist for the disease.

Deterministic epidemic models overestimate the basic reproduction number of observed outbreaks.

The basic reproduction number, , is a well-known quantifier of epidemic spread. However, a class of existing methods for estimating from incidence data early in the epidemic can lead to an over-estimation of this quantity. In particular, when fitting deterministic models to estimate the rate of spread, we do not account for the stochastic nature of epidemics and that, given the same system, some outbreaks may lead to epidemics and some may not.

Neuroimmunophysiology of the gastrointestinal tract.

Gut physiology is the epicenter of a web of internal communication systems (i.e., neural, immune, hormonal) mediated by cell-cell contacts, soluble factors, and external influences, such as the microbiome, diet, and the physical environment.

Associations between Perinatal Sleepiness and Breastfeeding Intentions and Attitudes and Infant Feeding Behaviors and Beliefs.

Breastfeeding rates fall short of public health goals, but barriers are poorly understood. We examined whether excessive sleepiness during pregnancy and the postpartum period was associated with breastfeeding intentions, attitudes, initiation, and continuation in a tobacco-exposed sample participating in a randomized controlled trial to reduce smoke exposure (n = 399). We used the Epworth Sleepiness Scale (ESS) to examine associations between excessive sleepiness in early (12-16 weeks gestation) and late (32 weeks gestation) pregnancy and at 6 months postpartum, with breastfeeding attitudes using the Mitra index, intentions, initiation, and continuation, as well as other infant feeding practices using the Infant Feeding Questionnaire.

Eco-evolutionary dynamics in finite network-structured populations with migration.

We consider the effect of network structure on the evolution of a population. Models of this kind typically consider a population of fixed size and distribution. Here we consider eco-evolutionary dynamics where population size and distribution can change through birth, death and migration, all of which are separate processes.

Preventing recurrence of postpartum depression by regulating sleep.

Introduction: Women are at a high risk of recurrence of depression in the postpartum period. Given the circumscribed duration of the risk period and knowledge of its triggers, postpartum depression should be easily preventable. However, prophylactic drug studies have reported contradictory findings partly due to the heterogeneity of the disorder.

Impact of depression and antidepressant use on clinical outcomes of hepatitis B and C: a population-based study.

Background: Depression is common in patients with chronic viral hepatitis. We evaluated the impact of major depressive disorder (MDD) and antidepressant use on survival among patients with HBV and HCV.

Methods: We used The Health Improvement Network database, the largest medical database in the UK, to identify incident HBV (n=1401) and HCV (n=1635) in patients between 1986 and 2017.

Intestinal distension orchestrates neuronal activity in the enteric nervous system of adult mice.

The enteric nervous system (ENS) regulates the motor, secretory and defensive functions of the gastrointestinal tract. Enteric neurons integrate mechanical and chemical inputs from the gut lumen to generate complex motor outputs. How intact enteric neural circuits respond to changes in the gut lumen is not well understood.

New Concepts of the Interplay Between the Gut Microbiota and the Enteric Nervous System in the Control of Motility.

Propulsive gastrointestinal (GI) motility is critical for digestive physiology and host defense. GI motility is finely regulated by the intramural reflex pathways of the enteric nervous system (ENS). The ENS is in turn regulated by luminal factors: diet and the gut microbiota.

The enteric nervous system.

Of all the organ systems in the body, the gastrointestinal tract is the most complicated in terms of the numbers of structures involved, each with different functions, and the numbers and types of signaling molecules utilized. The digestion of food and absorption of nutrients, electrolytes, and water occurs in a hostile luminal environment that contains a large and diverse microbiota. At the core of regulatory control of the digestive and defensive functions of the gastrointestinal tract is the enteric nervous system (ENS), a complex system of neurons and glia in the gut wall.

Proteolipid protein 1 is involved in the regulation of intestinal motility and barrier function in the mouse.

Proteolipid protein 1 (Plp1) is highly expressed in enteric glia, labeling cells throughout the mucosa, muscularis, and the extrinsic innervation. Plp1 is a major constituent of myelin in the central and peripheral nervous systems, but the absence of myelin in the enteric nervous system (ENS) suggests another role for Plp1 in the gut. Although the functions of enteric glia are still being established, there is strong evidence that they regulate intestinal motility and permeability.