Cortical surface area alterations shaped by genetic load for neuroticism.

Neuroticism has been shown to act as an important risk factor for major depressive disorder (MDD). Genetic and neuroimaging research has independently revealed biological correlates of neurotic personality including cortical alterations in brain regions of high relevance for affective disorders. Here we investigated the influence of a polygenic score for neuroticism (PGS) on cortical brain structure in a joint discovery sample of n = 746 healthy controls (HC) and n = 268 MDD patients.

Comparative characterization of two galectins excreted-secreted from intestine-dwelling parasitic versus free-living females of the soil-transmitted nematode Strongyloides.

Helminths are complex pathogens that ensure their long-term survival by influencing the immune responses of their host. Excretory/secretory products (ESP) can exert immunoregulatory effects which foster parasite survival. Galectins represent a widespread group of β-galactoside-binding proteins which are involved in a multitude of biological processes operative in parasite-host interaction.

Sorting Out the Role of α-Synuclein in Retromer-Mediated Endosomal Protein Sorting.

Retromer is a phylogenetically conserved, multisubunit coat complex that controls endosomal protein trafficking and sorting. Mutations in the retromer gene cause late-onset Parkinson disease, suggesting that trafficking defects cause neurodegeneration. Sorting nexins assist retromer to guide cell surface proteins to their assigned destinations, and our interest here is sorting nexin 3 (Snx3).

A longitudinal approach to biological psychiatric research: The PsyCourse study.

In current diagnostic systems, schizophrenia and bipolar disorder are still conceptualized as distinct categorical entities. Recently, both clinical and genomic evidence have challenged this Kraepelinian dichotomy. There are only few longitudinal studies addressing potential overlaps between these conditions.

Glutamate concentration in the anterior cingulate cortex in alcohol dependence: association with alcohol withdrawal and exploration of contribution from glutamatergic candidate genes.

Supplemental Digital Content is available in the text.

Ghrelin modulates mesolimbic reactivity to alcohol cues in alcohol-addicted subjects: a functional imaging study.

Ghrelin has been shown to be involved in the pathophysiology of alcohol dependence, affecting alcohol self-administration and craving. However, the mechanism of action in alcohol dependence still has to be determined. We thus investigated whether ghrelin is associated with mesolimbic cue reactivity to alcohol cues and alcohol craving in recently detoxified alcohol-addicted subjects.

Investigating polygenic burden in age at disease onset in bipolar disorder: Findings from an international multicentric study.

Objectives: Bipolar disorder (BD) with early disease onset is associated with an unfavorable clinical outcome and constitutes a clinically and biologically homogenous subgroup within the heterogeneous BD spectrum. Previous studies have found an accumulation of early age at onset (AAO) in BD families and have therefore hypothesized that there is a larger genetic contribution to the early-onset cases than to late onset BD. To investigate the genetic background of this subphenotype, we evaluated whether an increased polygenic burden of BD- and schizophrenia (SCZ)-associated risk variants is associated with an earlier AAO in BD patients.

Quality of Life in Parents of Children Born with Esophageal Atresia.

Introduction:  For parents of chronically ill children, the experiences of caregiving are challenged by increased demands and restrictions imposed by their child's disease. Therefore, this study aims to investigate the quality of life (QoL) in parents of children born with esophageal atresia (EA) and to explore associated factors.

Materials And Methods:  Parents of children (2-17 years) with EA recruited from two German pediatric hospitals participated in this cross-sectional study about QoL in EA.

Analysis of the Influence of microRNAs in Lithium Response in Bipolar Disorder.

Bipolar disorder (BD) is a common, highly heritable neuropsychiatric disease characterized by recurrent episodes of mania and depression. Lithium is the best-established long-term treatment for BD, even though individual response is highly variable. Evidence suggests that some of this variability has a genetic basis.

Shared genetic etiology between alcohol dependence and major depressive disorder.

The clinical comorbidity of alcohol dependence (AD) and major depressive disorder (MDD) is well established, whereas genetic factors influencing co-occurrence remain unclear. A recent study using polygenic risk scores (PRS) calculated based on the first-wave Psychiatric Genomics Consortium MDD meta-analysis (PGC-MDD1) suggests a modest shared genetic contribution to MDD and AD. Using a (~10 fold) larger discovery sample, we calculated PRS based on the second wave (PGC-MDD2) of results, in a severe AD case–control target sample.

Response to therapeutic sleep deprivation: a naturalistic study of clinical and genetic factors and post-treatment depressive symptom trajectory.

Research has shown that therapeutic sleep deprivation (SD) has rapid antidepressant effects in the majority of depressed patients. Investigation of factors preceding and accompanying these effects may facilitate the identification of the underlying biological mechanisms. This exploratory study aimed to examine clinical and genetic factors predicting response to SD and determine the impact of SD on illness course.

Maternal hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) system activity and stress during pregnancy: Effects on gestational age and infant's anthropometric measures at birth.

Background: Prenatal maternal stress might be a risk for the developing fetus and may have long-lasting effects on child and adult vulnerability to somatic and psychiatric disease. Over-exposure of the unborn to excess glucocorticoids and subsequent alteration of fetal development is hypothesized to be one of the key mechanisms linking prenatal stress with negative child outcome.

Methods: In this prospective longitudinal study, mothers-to-be (n = 405) in late pregnancy (36.

Effects of baricitinib on radiographic progression of structural joint damage at 1 year in patients with rheumatoid arthritis and an inadequate response to conventional synthetic disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs.

Background: Baricitinib was efficacious in a 24-week phase III study in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and an inadequate response to conventional synthetic disease-modifying anti rheumatic drugs (DMARDs) (csDMARDs) (RA-BUILD).

Objectives: To evaluate radiographic progression of structural joint damage in RA-BUILD patients over 48 weeks of baricitinib treatment in the long-term extension study, RA-BEYOND.

Methods: In RA-BUILD, patients were randomised to placebo, baricitinib 2 mg or 4 mg once daily, with rescue possible from week 16.

haploinsufficiency leads to pro-social 50-kHz ultrasonic communication deficits in rats.

The cross-disorder risk gene is strongly implicated in multiple neuropsychiatric disorders, including autism spectrum disorder (ASD), bipolar disorder (BPD) and schizophrenia (SCZ), with deficits in social functioning being common for all major neuropsychiatric disorders. In the present study, we explored the role of in regulating disorder-relevant behavioral phenotypes, focusing on socio-affective communication after weaning during the critical developmental period of adolescence in rats. To this aim, we used a newly developed genetic rat model and applied a truly reciprocal approach for studying communication through ultrasonic vocalizations, including both sender and receiver.

The Esophageal-Atresia-Quality-of-life Questionnaires: Feasibility, Validity and Reliability in Sweden and Germany.

Objectives: Esophageal atresia (EA) is a rare malformation characterized of discontinuity of the esophagus, concurrent with or without a tracheoesophageal fistula (TEF). We report the feasibility validity and reliability of a condition-specific quality-of-life (QOL) tool for EA/TEF children, the age-adapted EA-QOL-questionnaires, when used in Sweden and Germany.

Methods: A total of 124 families of children with EA/TEF participated in the study; 53 parents completed the EA-QOL-questionnaire for children aged 2 to 7 years; 62 children/71 parents the EA-QOL-questionnaire for children 8 to 17 years.

Risk-seeking for losses is associated with 5-HTTLPR, but not with transient changes in 5-HT levels.

Rationale: Serotonin (5-HT) plays a key role in different aspects of value-based decision-making. A recent framework proposed that tonic 5-HT (together with dopamine, DA) codes future average reward expectations, providing a baseline against which possible choice outcomes are compared to guide decision-making.

Objectives: To test whether high 5-HT levels decrease loss aversion, risk-seeking for gains, and risk-seeking for losses.

[Non-epitheliotropic B-cell lymphoma with atypical spindle cell morphology in a Weimaraner dog].

The case report describes a very rare cutaneous non-epitheliotropic B-cell lymphoma in an 11-year-old male Weimaraner dog, which presented with multiple cutaneous proliferations. In addition to numerous cytoplasmic fragments of lymphatic cells, the cytological examination of a fine-needle aspirate taken from a skin nodule revealed a population of pleomorphic plump to spindle-shaped cells with round to oval nuclei, fine chromatin structure, moderate amounts of a lightly basophilic cytoplasm and predominantly indistinct cell boundaries. These findings suggested a possible cutaneous spindle-cell lymphoma, thus a biopsy was taken.

Olfactory fMRI: Implications of Stimulation Length and Repetition Time.

Studying olfaction with functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) poses various methodological challenges. This study aimed to investigate the effects of stimulation length and repetition time (TR) on the activation pattern of 4 olfactory brain regions: the anterior and the posterior piriform cortex, the orbitofrontal cortex, and the insula. Twenty-two healthy participants with normal olfaction were examined with fMRI, with 2 stimulation lengths (6 s and 15 s) and 2 TRs (0.

Impact on birth weight of maternal smoking throughout pregnancy mediated by DNA methylation.

Background: Cigarette smoking has severe adverse health consequences in adults and in the offspring of mothers who smoke during pregnancy. One of the most widely reported effects of smoking during pregnancy is reduced birth weight which is in turn associated with chronic disease in adulthood. Epigenome-wide association studies have revealed that smokers show a characteristic "smoking methylation pattern", and recent authors have proposed that DNA methylation mediates the impact of maternal smoking on birth weight.

Associations between comorbidities, their treatment and survival in patients with interstitial lung diseases - a claims data analysis.

Background: Interstitial lung diseases (ILDs) are associated with a high burden of disease. However, data on the prognostic impact of comorbidities and comorbidity-related pharmaceutical treatments in patients with various ILDs remain sparse.

Methods: Using longitudinal claims data from a German Statutory Health Insurance Fund, we assessed comorbidity in ILD subtypes and associated drug treatments.

Cortisol, cortisone, and BDNF in amniotic fluid in the second trimester of pregnancy: Effect of early life and current maternal stress and socioeconomic status.

The prenatal environment shapes the offspring's phenotype; moreover, transgenerational stress and stress during pregnancy may play a role. Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) and glucocorticoids influence neurodevelopment during pregnancy, and there is evidence that BDNF in amniotic fluid is mainly of fetal origin, while the source of glucocorticoids is maternal. We tested the hypothesis that maternal early life stress, psychiatric diagnoses, anxiety, perceived stress, and socioeconomic status influence BDNF and glucocorticoid concentrations in amniotic fluid in the second trimester.

Piloting and psychometric properties of a patient-reported outcome instrument for young people with achondroplasia based on the International Classification of Functioning Disability and Health: the Achondroplasia Personal Life Experience Scale (APLES).

This study describes the psychometric testing of the Achondroplasia Personal Life Experience Scale (APLES): a new disease- and functioning-specific health-related quality of life instrument for young people with achondroplasia, which was developed based on the International Classification of Functioning-Children and Youth Version. The qualitative analysis of focus group statements from German patients and parents using the International Classification of Functioning-Children and Youth Version yielded 59 items, which after cognitive debriefing were included in a pilot-test. Psychometric performance was cross-culturally examined in a field- and re-test in Germany and Spain.