NEOage clocks - epigenetic clocks to estimate post-menstrual and postnatal age in preterm infants.

Epigenetic clocks based on DNA methylation (DNAm) can accurately predict chronological age and are thought to capture biological aging. A variety of epigenetic clocks have been developed for different tissue types and age ranges, but none have focused on postnatal age prediction for preterm infants. Epigenetic estimators of biological age might be especially informative in epidemiologic studies of neonates since DNAm is highly dynamic during the neonatal period and this is a key developmental window.

Autism severity aggregates with family psychiatric history in a community-based autism sample.

The purpose of this study was to examine family psychiatric history in individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and its association with clinical presentation. Participants were 798 individuals with a clinical diagnosis of ASD, confirmed by the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule, Second Edition (ADOS-2), enrolled in Rhode Island Consortium for Autism Research and Treatment, a statewide research registry. Prior research suggests a specific behavioral phenotype in individuals with ASD who have family members with psychiatric diagnoses, including higher IQ and less severe language impairment.

Validity of claims-based algorithms to identify neurodevelopmental disorders in children.

Purpose: To validate healthcare claim-based algorithms for neurodevelopmental disorders (NDD) in children using medical records as the reference.

Methods: Using a clinical data warehouse of patients receiving outpatient or inpatient care at two hospitals in Boston, we identified children (≤14 years between 2010 and 2014) with at least one of the following NDDs according to claims-based algorithms: autism spectrum disorder/pervasive developmental disorder (ASD), attention deficit disorder/other hyperkinetic syndromes of childhood (ADHD), learning disability, speech/language disorder, developmental coordination disorder (DCD), intellectual disability, and behavioral disorder. Fifty cases per outcome were randomly sampled and their medical records were independently reviewed by two physicians to adjudicate the outcome presence.

Improving the Assessment of Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome (NAS).

Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome (NAS) is a public health problem of epidemic proportions. The Finnegan Neonatal Abstinence Scoring System (FNASS) is the tool most widely used to evaluate NAS. However, it is limited by its lack of interrater reliability and standardized approach.

Moderators of Age of Diagnosis in > 20,000 Females with Autism in Two Large US Studies.

The objective of this study was to determine the clinical features that moderate a later age at ASD diagnosis in females in a large sample of females with ASD. Within two large and independent ASD datasets (> 20,000 females), females were first diagnosed with ASD 14-months later relative to males. This later age at diagnosis was moderated by a mild or atypical presentation, wherein repetitive behaviors were limited, IQ and language were broadly intact, and recognized symptoms emerged later in development.

Phenobarbital and Clonidine as Secondary Medications for Neonatal Opioid Withdrawal Syndrome.

Background And Objectives: Despite the neonatal opioid withdrawal syndrome (NOWS) epidemic in the United States, evidence is limited for pharmacologic management when first-line opioid medications fail to control symptoms. The objective with this study was to evaluate outcomes of infants receiving secondary therapy with phenobarbital compared with clonidine, in combination with morphine, for the treatment of NOWS.

Methods: We performed a retrospective cohort study of infants with NOWS from 30 hospitals.

Site-Level Variation in the Characteristics and Care of Infants With Neonatal Opioid Withdrawal.

Background And Objectives: Variation in pediatric medical care is common and contributes to differences in patient outcomes. Site-to-site variation in the characteristics and care of infants with neonatal opioid withdrawal syndrome (NOWS) has yet to be quantified. Our objective was to describe site-to-site variation in maternal-infant characteristics, infant management, and outcomes for infants with NOWS.

Behavior Problems During Early Childhood in Children With Prenatal Methamphetamine Exposure.

Background And Objectives: The effects of in utero methamphetamine exposure on behavioral problems in school-aged children are unclear. Our objective for this study was to evaluate behavior problems in children at aged 3, 5, and 7.5 years who were prenatally exposed to methamphetamine.

Providing Support for Neonatal Intensive Care Unit Health Care Professionals: A Bereavement Debriefing Program.

Objective: The aim of this study is to evaluate formal bereavement debriefing sessions after infant death on neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) staff.

Study Design: Prospective mixed methods study. Pre- and postbereavement debriefing intervention surveys were sent to clinical staff.

Early external-environmental and internal-health predictors of risky sexual and aggressive behavior in adolescence: An integrative approach.

External predictive adaptive response (PAR) models assume that developmental exposures to stress carry predictive information about the future state of the environment, and that development of a faster life history (LH) strategy in this context functions to match the individual to this expected harsh state. More recently internal PAR models have proposed that early somatic condition (i.e.

Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome Severity Index Predicts 18-Month Neurodevelopmental Outcome in Neonates Randomized to Morphine or Methadone.

Objective: To develop an index to determine which opioid-exposed neonates have the most severe neonatal abstinence syndrome (NAS).

Study Design: Full-term neonates with NAS (n = 116) from mothers maintained on methadone or buprenorphine were enrolled from 8 sites into a randomized clinical trial of morphine vs methadone. Ninety-nine (85%) were evaluated at hospital discharge using the NICU Network Neurobehavioral Scale (NNNS).

DNA methylation in children with prenatal methamphetamine exposure and environmental adversity.

Background: Methamphetamine (MA) use during pregnancy is a significant public health concern in the United States and affects long-term brain and behavioral development in children. We hypothesized that prenatal MA exposure would be related to greater DNA methylation of HSD11B2 and postnatal environmental stress.

Methods: The Infant Development, Environment, and Lifestyle Study (IDEAL), a longitudinal study of prenatal MA exposure enrolled mother-infant dyads in California, Hawaii, Iowa, and Oklahoma.

Association of prenatal opiate exposure with youth outcomes assessed from infancy through adolescence.

Objective: This study examined acute findings and long-term outcome trajectories between birth and adolescence in children with prenatal opiate exposure.

Study Design: Ninety children (45 opiate-exposed, 45 non-exposed) completed assessments between 1 month and 15 years of age. Outcome variables (medical, anthropomorphic, developmental, and behavioral) were analyzed at individual time points and using longitudinal statistical modeling.

Maternal smoking in pregnancy, fetal activity & newborn behavioral state: An observational ultrasound study.

Maternal smoking during pregnancy (MSDP) remains one of the most common prenatal drug exposures in the US and worldwide. MSDP is associated with medical risk for the fetus and altered behavioral development in infants; however, fewer studies have examined the impact of MSDP on fetal behavior or newborn behavioral state. We investigated associations between MSDP and (a) fetal motor activity and (b) newborn behavioral state following handling.

Clinical Genetic Testing in Autism Spectrum Disorder in a Large Community-Based Population Sample.

This study analyzes data from a large, population-based study of people with autism spectrum disorder to evaluate what proportion underwent genetic testing.

Prenatal tobacco and marijuana co-use: Sex-specific influences on infant cortisol stress response.

Although tobacco (TOB) and marijuana (MJ) are often co-used in pregnancy, little is known regarding the joint impact of MJ + TOB on offspring development, including the developing neuroendocrine stress system. Further, despite evidence for sex-specific impacts of prenatal exposures in preclinical models, the sex-specific impact of prenatal MJ + TOB exposure on offspring neuroendocrine regulation in humans is also unknown. In the current study, overall and sex-specific influences of MJ + TOB co-use on offspring cortisol regulation were investigated over the first postnatal month.

Prenatal antidepressant exposures and gastrointestinal complaints in childhood: A gut-brain axis connection?

Selective serotonin/norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors (collectively, SRIs) are the most commonly prescribed antidepressant agents for the treatment of depression in pregnancy. SRIs affect maternal and placental serotonin signaling, which might impact fetal brain development. Alterations in serotonin signaling might also impact the developing gut-brain axis (GBA) via alterations in the fetal enteric nervous system (ENS).

Social Stress-Related Epigenetic Changes Associated With Increased Heart Rate Variability in Infants.

Early life stress can result in persistent alterations of an individual's stress regulation through epigenetic modifications. Epigenetic alteration of the gene is associated with changes in the stress response system during infancy as measured by cortisol reactivity. Although autonomic nervous system (ANS) reactivity is a key component of the stress response, we have a limited understanding of the effects of DNA methylation on ANS reactivity.

Sociodemographic and medical influences on neurobehavioral patterns in preterm infants: A multi-center study.

Background: Among preterm infants, neurodevelopmental outcomes are influenced by both medical and sociodemographic factors. Less is known about the impact on these factors on neonatal neurobehavioral patterns.

Objective: To determine associations between demographic, psychosocial and medical risk factors and neonatal neurobehavior.

Selenium-associated DNA methylation modifications in placenta and neurobehavioral development of newborns: An epigenome-wide study of two U.S. birth cohorts.

Background/aim: Selenium (Se) levels in pregnancy have been linked to neurobehavioral development of the offspring. DNA methylation is a potential mechanism underlying the impacts of environmental exposures on fetal development; however, very few studies have been done elucidating the role of DNA methylation linking prenatal Se and child neurobehavior. We aimed to investigate the associations between placental Se concentration and epigenome-wide DNA methylation in two U.

Neurodevelopmental Outcomes of Neonates Randomized to Morphine or Methadone for Treatment of Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome.

Objective: To evaluate the effects of pharmacologic treatment of neonatal abstinence syndrome on neurodevelopmental outcome from a randomized, controlled trial.

Study Design: Eight sites enrolled 116 full-term newborn infants with neonatal abstinence syndrome born to mothers maintained on methadone or buprenorphine into a randomized trial of morphine vs methadone. Ninety-nine infants (85%) were evaluated at hospital discharge using the NICU Network Neurobehavioral Scale.