Latest research hints at predicting autism risk for pregnant mothers

Researchers at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute -- led by Juergen Hahn, professor and head of biomedical engineering -- are continuing to make remarkable progress with their research focused on autism spectrum disorder (ASD). A recent paper authored by Hahn and Jill James from the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) in the journal Research in Autism Spectrum Disorders discusses their work on predicting with approximately 90 percent accuracy whether a pregnant mother has a 1.7 percent or a tenfold increased risk of having a child diagnosed with ASD.

Currently there is no test for pregnant mothers that can predict the probability of having a child that will be diagnosed with ASD. Recent estimates indicate that if a mother has previously had a child with ASD, the risk of having a second child with ASD is approximately 18.7 percent, whereas the risk of ASD in the general population is approximately 1.7 percent.

"However," said Hahn, a member of the Rensselaer Center for Biotechnology and Interdisciplinary Studies, "it would be highly desirable if a prediction based upon physiological measurements could be made to determine which risk group a prospective mother falls into."

Hahn's work in developing a physiological test to predict autism risk is part larger emphasis on Alzheimer's and neurodegenerative diseases at the Center for Biotechnology and Interdisciplinary Studies, and an example of how the interdisciplinary life science and engineering interface at Rensselaer offers new perspectives and solutions for improving human health.

In this study, metabolites of the folate-dependent transmethylation and transsulfuration biochemical pathways of pregnant mothers were measured to determine whether or not the risk of having a child with autism could be predicted by her metabolic profile. Pregnant mothers who have had a child with autism before were separated into two groups based on the diagnosis of their child whether the child had autism or not. Then these mothers were compared to a group of control mothers who have not had a child with autism before.

The researchers concluded that while it is not possible to determine during a pregnancy if a child will be diagnosed with ASD by age 3, they did find that differences in the plasma metabolites are indicative of the relative risk (18.7 percent vs 1.7 percent) for having a child with ASD.

"These are exciting results as they hint at differences in some metabolic processes that potentially play a role in increasing the risk of having a child with ASD," said Hahn.

In addition to the lead authors, Juergen Hahn of Rensselaer and Jill James of UAMS, this work included collaborators from Rensselaer, the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, and the MIND Institute at UC Davis.

This new research follows an earlier study published in 2017, which developed an algorithm based on levels of metabolites found in a blood sample that can accurately predict whether a child is on the autism spectrum. A follow-up study this spring was also highly promising in assessing whether a child is on the autism spectrum. These results have the potential for earlier diagnosis for ASD, and efforts are underway to develop a commercially available test based upon these findings.

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Story Source:

Materials provided by Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.

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Journal Reference:

1. Kathryn Hollowood, Stepan Melnyk, Oleksandra Pavliv, Teresa Evans, Ashley Sides, Rebecca J. Schmidt, Irva Hertz-Picciotto, William Elms, Elizabeth Guerrero, Uwe Kruger, Juergen Hahn, S. Jill James. Maternal metabolic profile predicts high or low risk of an autism pregnancy outcome. Research in Autism Spectrum Disorders, 2018; 56: 72 DOI: 10.1016/j.rasd.2018.09.003

A fracture anywhere reduces bone density everywhere

Breaking a bone causes bone density losses throughout the body, not just close to the site of the fracture, and primarily around the time of the fracture, two new studies from UC Davis Health show.

The studies are among the first to associate fractures with systemic bone loss. They also begin the path to finding treatments that preserve long-term skeletal health and reduce susceptibility to additional fractures and, potentially, osteoporosis, which is diagnosed when bone-density losses are severe.

Both investigations were led by Blaine Christiansen, whose research focuses on identifying changes in musculoskeletal tissue due to injury, aging or disease.

"We know one fracture seems to lead to others, but we haven't known why," said Christiansen, associate professor of orthopaedic surgery at UC Davis. "Our work is the first step on the path to identifying the cellular mechanisms of systemic bone loss."

The first study, published in Osteoporosis International, was based on about 4,000 participants in the Study of Osteoporotic Fractures, an observational study of older women that included hip bone mineral density (BMD) measures and fracture history gathered regularly over 20 years.

Outcomes showed that hip BMD decreased over time for all women in the study, but was greatest for those who had fractured a bone ? even if the fracture was not near the hip. BMD reductions averaged between .89 and .77 percent per year for those with fractures, and .66 percent per year for those with no fractures. Those losses were greatest within the first two years of a break.

Published in the Journal of Bone and Mineral Research, the second study was conducted using mice with femur fractures and BMD tests in various bones. Once again, bone loss occurred throughout the body, most notably in the spine, and was greatest within the first two weeks of fracture. It also was accompanied by higher levels of inflammatory markers in the blood.

Outcomes of the second study showed interesting age-related recovery differences as well. Younger mice eventually recovered their pre-fracture BMD levels, while older mice did not.

Christiansen next hopes to further characterize the post-fracture inflammatory factors that may contribute to bone loss following fracture.

"It's possible that these factors are key to initiating BMD loss once a bone is broken," Christiansen said. "Ultimately, we hope to develop therapeutic strategies that interrupt those processes and prevent bone loss."

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Materials provided by University of California - Davis Health System. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.

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Journal Reference:

1. B. A. Christiansen, S. L. Harrison, H. A. Fink, N. E. Lane. Incident fracture is associated with a period of accelerated loss of hip BMD: the Study of Osteoporotic Fractures. Osteoporosis International, 2018; 29 (10): 2201 DOI: 10.1007/s00198-018-4606-6

Weight loss can be boosted fivefold thanks to novel mental imagery technique

Overweight people who used a new motivational intervention called Functional Imagery Training (FIT) lost an average of five times more weight than those using talking therapy alone, shows new research published today by the University of Plymouth and Queensland University.

In addition, users of FIT lost 4.3cm more around their waist circumference in six months -- and continued to lose weight after the intervention had finished.

Led by Dr Linda Solbrig from the School of Psychology, the research involved 141 participants, who were allocated either to FIT or Motivational Interviewing (MI) -- a technique that sees a counsellor support someone to develop, highlight and verbalise their need or motivation for change, and their reasons for wanting to change.

FIT goes one step further than MI, as it makes use of multisensory imagery to explore these changes by teaching clients how to elicit and practice motivational imagery themselves. Everyday behaviours and optional app support are used to cue imagery practice until it becomes a cognitive habit.

Maximum contact time was four hours of individual consultation, and neither group received any additional dietary advice or information.

Dr Solbrig, who completed the work as part of a PhD funded by The National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Collaboration for Leadership in Applied Health Research and Care (CLAHRC) South West Peninsula, said: "It's fantastic that people lost significantly more weight on this intervention, as, unlike most studies, it provided no diet/physical activity advice or education. People were completely free in their choices and supported in what they wanted to do, not what a regimen prescribed."

The study showed how after six months people who used the FIT intervention lost an average of 4.11kg, compared with an average of 0.74kg among the MI group.

After 12 months -- six months after the intervention had finished -- the FIT group continued to lose weight, with an average of 6.44kg lost compared with 0.67kg in the MI group.

Dr Solbrig continued: "Most people agree that in order to lose weight, you need to eat less and exercise more, but in many cases, people simply aren't motivated enough to heed this advice -- however much they might agree with it. So FIT comes in with the key aim of encouraging someone to come up with their own imagery of what change might look and feel like to them, how it might be achieved and kept up, even when challenges arise.

"We started with taking people through an exercise about a lemon. We asked them to imagine seeing it, touching it, juicing it, drinking the juice and juice accidently squirting in their eye, to emphasise how emotional and tight to our physical sensations imagery is. From there we are able to encourage them to fully imagine and embrace their own goals. Not just 'imagine how good it would be to lose weight' but, for example, 'what would losing weight enable you to do that you can't do now? What would that look / sound / smell like?', and encourage them to use all of their senses.

"As well as being delighted by the success of the study in the short term, there are very few studies that document weight loss past the end of treatment, so to see that people continued to lose weight despite not having any support shows the sustainability and effectiveness of this intervention."

Trisha Bradbury was one of the participants allocated to the FIT study, and she explains: "I lost my mum at 60, and being 59 myself with a variety of health problems, my motivation was to be there for my daughter. I kept thinking about wearing the dress I'd bought for my daughter's graduation, and on days I really didn't feel like exercising, kept picturing how I'd feel.

"I've gone from 14 stone to 12 stone 2 and have managed to lower the dosage I need for my blood pressure tablets. I'd still like to lose a touch more, but I'm so delighted with the mind-set shift."

Professor Jackie Andrade, Professor in Psychology at the University of Plymouth, is one of the co-creators of FIT, and she explains: "FIT is based on two decades of research showing that mental imagery is more strongly emotionally charged than other types of thought. It uses imagery to strengthen people's motivation and confidence to achieve their goals, and teaches people how to do this for themselves, so they can stay motivated even when faced with challenges. We were very excited to see that our intervention achieved exactly what we had hoped for and that it helped our participants achieve their goals and most importantly to maintain them."

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Story Source:

Materials provided by University of Plymouth. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.

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Journal Reference:

1. Linda Solbrig, Ben Whalley, David J. Kavanagh, Jon May, Tracey Parkin, Ray Jones, Jackie Andrade. Functional imagery training versus motivational interviewing for weight loss: a randomised controlled trial of brief individual interventions for overweight and obesity. International Journal of Obesity, 2018; DOI: 10.1038/s41366-018-0122-1