Polymorphism of interleukin-1β and interleukin-1 receptor antagonist genes in children with autism spectrum disorders.

In this study, we first investigated interleukin-1 beta (IL-1β) and IL-1 receptor antagonist (IL-1RA) levels in a cohort of Egyptian children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and in healthy controls. Second, we examined the single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) at positions -31 and - 511 of the IL-1β gene promoter and IL1RA and assessed the association between IL1B and IL1RA polymorphisms with ASD. We examined IL1β promoter polymorphism at -511 (IL-1β-511) and - 31 (IL-1β-31) and IL1RA gene polymorphism in 80 children with ASD and 60 healthy children.

Randomized controlled trial of vitamin D supplementation in children with autism spectrum disorder.

Background: Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a frequent developmental disorder characterized by pervasive deficits in social interaction, impairment in verbal and nonverbal communication, and stereotyped patterns of interests and activities. It has been previously reported that there is vitamin D deficiency in autistic children; however, there is a lack of randomized controlled trials of vitamin D supplementation in ASD children.

Methods: This study is a double-blinded, randomized clinical trial (RCT) that was conducted on 109 children with ASD (85 boys and 24 girls; aged 3-10 years).

Vitamin D status in autism spectrum disorders and the efficacy of vitamin D supplementation in autistic children.

Objectives: Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a developmental disorder characterized by pervasive deficits in social interaction, impairment in verbal and non-verbal communication, and stereotyped patterns of interests and activities. Vitamin-D deficiency was previously reported in autistic children. However, the data on the relationship between vitamin D deficiency and the severity of autism are limited.

Psychopathological and peripheral levels of neurobiological correlates of obsessive-compulsive symptoms in patients with epilepsy: a hospital-based study.

Objectives: Obsessive-compulsive symptoms (OCSs) and disorder (OCD) are often underdiagnosed in the out-patient epilepsy clinic. This work aimed at determining the risks and comorbidities (psychopathological and neurobiological correlates) of OCSs in treated adults with idiopathic epilepsy recruited from a university hospital.

Methods: Psychiatric evaluation was done using DSM-IV (The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Health Disorders).

Assessment of biocorrelates for brain involvement in female patients with rheumatoid arthritis.

Central nervous system (CNS) abnormalities are rare in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Direct studies done to investigate brain involvement in RA are few or even absent. We hypothesized that CNS is not excluded from the inflammatory disease process in RA.

Multimodal neurophysiological and psychometric evaluation among patients with systemic lupus erythematosus.

Objective: To determine some of the neuropsychiatric manifestations of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) by applying multimodal neurophysiological and psychometric studies.

Patients And Methods: Twenty-six SLE patients were evaluated for neurological and psychiatric disorders and compared with 26 healthy controls matched for age, sex, education, and social class. The severity of SLE disease was assessed.