Early midlife ovarian removal is associated with lower posterior hippocampal function.

Introduction: Women with early bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy (BSO) have greater Alzheimer's disease (AD) risk than women with spontaneous menopause (SM), but the pathway toward this risk is understudied. Considering associative memory deficits may reflect early signs of AD, we studied how BSO affected brain activity underlying associative memory.

Methods: Early midlife women with BSO (with and without 17β-estradiol therapy [ET]) and age-matched controls (AMCs) with intact ovaries completed a face-name associative memory task during functional magnetic resonance imaging.

Momentary Depression Severity Prediction in Patients With Acute Depression Who Undergo Sleep Deprivation Therapy: Speech-Based Machine Learning Approach.

Background: Mobile devices for remote monitoring are inevitable tools to support treatment and patient care, especially in recurrent diseases such as major depressive disorder. The aim of this study was to learn if machine learning (ML) models based on longitudinal speech data are helpful in predicting momentary depression severity. Data analyses were based on a dataset including 30 inpatients during an acute depressive episode receiving sleep deprivation therapy in stationary care, an intervention inducing a rapid change in depressive symptoms in a relatively short period of time.

Cu- and Ag-mediated inactivation of in bench- and pilot-scale drinking water systems.

(Lp) is an opportunistic drinking water pathogen that can cause infections through the inhalation of Lp-containing aerosols and can occur in premise plumbing systems. In this work, the use of copper (Cu) and silver (Ag) ions was evaluated at the bench and pilot scale to determine (i) the effective independent concentrations of copper and silver that are efficacious in inactivating Lp, (ii) the impact of various water quality parameters on the efficaciousness of copper and silver ions, and (iii) the effectiveness and practicality of using dissociation to produce ions at the pilot scale. At the bench scale, it was determined that 0.

Longitudinal markers of cognitive procedural learning in fronto-striatal circuits and putative effects of a BDNF plasticity-related variant.

Procedural learning and automatization have widely been studied in behavioral psychology and typically involves a rapid improvement, followed by a plateau in performance throughout repeated training. More recently, brain imaging studies have implicated frontal-striatal brain circuits in skill learning. However, it is largely unknown whether frontal-striatal activation during skill learning and behavioral changes follow a similar learning curve pattern.

Transcriptomic analysis of melanoma cells reveals an association of α-synuclein with regulation of the inflammatory response.

The Parkinson's disease protein, alpha-synuclein (α-syn/SNCA), is highly expressed in neurons and melanomas. The goal of this study was to reveal the mechanism(s) of α-syn's involvement in melanoma pathogenesis. To decipher the genes and pathways affected by α-syn, we conducted an RNA sequencing analysis of human SK-MEL-28 cells and several SK-MEL-28 SNCA-KO clones.

Alcohol Use Disorder-Associated DNA Methylation in the Nucleus Accumbens and Dorsolateral Prefrontal Cortex.

Background: Alcohol use disorder (AUD) has a profound public health impact. However, understanding of the molecular mechanisms that underlie the development and progression of AUD remains limited. Here, we investigated AUD-associated DNA methylation changes within and across 2 addiction-relevant brain regions, the nucleus accumbens and dorsolateral prefrontal cortex.

The effects of a six-month exercise intervention on white matter microstructure in older adults at risk for diabetes.

Older adults with prediabetes or obesity (i.e., those at risk for diabetes) exhibit impaired structural brain networks.

Possible regulation of the immune modulator tetraspanin CD81 by alpha-synuclein in melanoma.

We probed the mechanism by which the Parkinson's disease-associated protein α-synuclein (α-syn)/SNCA promotes the pathogenesis and progression of melanoma. We found that the human melanoma cell line SK-MEL-28 in which SNCA is knocked out (SNCA-KO) has low levels of tetraspanin CD81, which is a cell-surface protein that promotes invasion, migration, and immune suppression. Analyzing data from the Cancer Genome Atlas, we show that SNCA and CD81 mRNA levels are positively correlated in melanoma; melanoma survival is inversely related to the levels of SNCA and CD81; and SNCA/CD81 are inversely related to the expression of key cytokine genes (IL12A, IL12B, IFN, IFNG, PRF1 and GZMB) for immune activation and immune cell-mediated killing of melanoma cells.

Polygenic risk scores for nicotine use and family history of smoking are associated with smoking behaviour.

Introduction: Formal genetics studies show that smoking is influenced by genetic factors; exploring this on the molecular level can offer deeper insight into the etiology of smoking behaviours.

Methods: Summary statistics from the latest wave of the GWAS and Sequencing Consortium of Alcohol and Nicotine (GSCAN) were used to calculate polygenic risk scores (PRS) in a sample of ~2200 individuals who smoke/individuals who never smoked. The associations of smoking status with PRS for Smoking Initiation (i.

Cell type-specific Multi-Omics Analysis of Cocaine Use Disorder in the Human Caudate Nucleus.

Structural and functional alterations in the brain's reward circuitry are present in cocaine use disorder (CocUD), but their molecular underpinnings remain unclear. To investigate these mechanisms, we performed single-nuclei multiome profiling on postmortem caudate nucleus tissue from six individuals with CocUD and eight controls. We profiled 31,178 nuclei, identifying 13 cell types including D1- and D2-medium spiny neurons (MSNs) and glial cells.

A meta-analysis of genome-wide studies of resilience in the German population.

Resilience is the capacity to adapt to stressful life events. As such, this trait is associated with physical and mental functions and conditions. Here, we aimed to identify the genetic factors contributing to shape resilience.

Stress in pregnancy - Implications for fetal BDNF in amniotic fluid at birth.

Introduction: At the maternal-fetal interface in pregnancy, stress during pregnancy can lead to an increased vulnerability to later psychopathology of the fetus. Potential mediators of this association have scarcely been studied and may include early alterations of fetal brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF). Amniotic fluid is of particular interest for effects on fetal endocrine alterations, as the assessment in amniotic fluid allows for measurements over a time integral.

A comprehensive systematic review of health-related quality of life measures in short stature paediatric patients.

This systematic review investigates Patient-reported Outcome Measures (PROMs) and Observed Reported Outcome Measures (ObsROMs) pertinent to assessing Health-Related Quality of Life (HRQoL) in short-stature paediatric patients, focusing on Achondroplasia (ACH), Growth Hormone Deficiency (GHD), Isolated Growth Hormone Deficiency (IGHD), and Small-for-Gestational-Age (SGA) diagnoses. Utilising rigorous selection criteria, 53 studies published from 1998 to 2023 were analysed, revealing a predominance of European-based research. Notably, the review elucidated the utilisation of disease-specific and generic HRQoL measures, showcasing the multifaceted nature of short-stature conditions and their impact across physical, emotional, and social domains.

Linguistic style as a digital marker for depression severity: An ambulatory assessment pilot study in patients with depressive disorder undergoing sleep deprivation therapy.

Background: Digital phenotyping and monitoring tools are the most promising approaches to automatically detect upcoming depressive episodes. Especially, linguistic style has been seen as a potential behavioral marker of depression, as cross-sectional studies showed, for example, less frequent use of positive emotion words, intensified use of negative emotion words, and more self-references in patients with depression compared to healthy controls. However, longitudinal studies are sparse and therefore it remains unclear whether within-person fluctuations in depression severity are associated with individuals' linguistic style.

The ReCoDe addiction research consortium: Losing and regaining control over drug intake-Findings and future perspectives.

Substance use disorders (SUDs) are seen as a continuum ranging from goal-directed and hedonic drug use to loss of control over drug intake with aversive consequences for mental and physical health and social functioning. The main goals of our interdisciplinary German collaborative research centre on Losing and Regaining Control over Drug Intake (ReCoDe) are (i) to study triggers (drug cues, stressors, drug priming) and modifying factors (age, gender, physical activity, cognitive functions, childhood adversity, social factors, such as loneliness and social contact/interaction) that longitudinally modulate the trajectories of losing and regaining control over drug consumption under real-life conditions. (ii) To study underlying behavioural, cognitive and neurobiological mechanisms of disease trajectories and drug-related behaviours and (iii) to provide non-invasive mechanism-based interventions.

Connection Failure: Differences in White Matter Microstructure Are Associated with but Not with Risk Seeking for Losses.

S/S carriers of have been found to be more risk seeking for losses compared to L/L carriers. This finding may be the result of reduced top-down control from the frontal cortex due to altered signal pathways involving the amygdala and ventral striatum. The serotonergic system is known to be involved in neurodevelopment and neuroplasticity.

Maternal age is related to offspring DNA methylation: A meta-analysis of results from the PACE consortium.

Worldwide trends to delay childbearing have increased parental ages at birth. Older parental age may harm offspring health, but mechanisms remain unclear. Alterations in offspring DNA methylation (DNAm) patterns could play a role as aging has been associated with methylation changes in gametes of older individuals.

The interplay between polygenic score for tumor necrosis factor-α, brain structural connectivity, and processing speed in major depression.

Reduced processing speed is a core deficit in major depressive disorder (MDD) and has been linked to altered structural brain network connectivity. Ample evidence highlights the involvement of genetic-immunological processes in MDD and specific depressive symptoms. Here, we extended these findings by examining associations between polygenic scores for tumor necrosis factor-α blood levels (TNF-α PGS), structural brain connectivity, and processing speed in a large sample of MDD patients.

Gray matter volume in women with the BRCA mutation with and without ovarian removal: evidence for increased risk of late-life Alzheimer's disease or dementia.

Objective: Ovarian removal prior to spontaneous/natural menopause (SM) is associated with increased risk of late life dementias including Alzheimer's disease. This increased risk may be related to the sudden and early loss of endogenous estradiol. Women with breast cancer gene mutations (BRCAm) are counseled to undergo oophorectomy prior to SM to significantly reduce their risk of developing breast, ovarian, and cervical cancers.

Fetal Sex as Moderating Factor for the Relationship Between Maternal Childhood Trauma and Salivary Kynurenic Acid and Tryptophan in Pregnancy: A Pilot Study.

Traumatic experiences and fetal development influence tryptophan (TRP) and its neuroactive byproduct, kynurenic acid (KYNA). Maternal TRP metabolite levels during pregnancy vary by fetal sex, with higher concentrations in mothers carrying male fetuses. This pilot study aimed to explore the relationship between offspring sex, maternal childhood trauma, and maternal salivary KYNA and TRP levels during pregnancy.