Diffusion tensor imaging analysis of the corpus callosum in children with high-risk autism spectrum disorder.

BACKGROUND: Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a severe neurodevelopmental disorder that begins in early infancy and childhood and is characterized by impaired social communication and repetitive stereotyped behaviors. OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to examine the development of the corpus callosum and its relationship to neurobehavior in young children with high-risk (HR) ASD using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and diffusion tensor imaging (DTI). METHODS: Twenty-one children with HR-ASD who visited Anhui Children's Hospital between January 2020 and December 2021 were selected as the study group, while 19 matched children with normal development during the same time were adopted as the control group. Cranial MRI+DTI were performed for all of the enrolled children and fractional anisotropy (FA) measurements were taken in each region of the corpus callosum. RESULTS: The FA values in all regions of the corpus callosum were higher in the study group than in the control group (0.417 ± 0.016 vs. 0.412 ± 0.02 in the corpus callosum knee, 0.439 ± 0.018 vs. 0.431 ± 0.023 in the corpus callosum body, and 0.446 ± 0.017 vs. 0.434 ± 0.019 in the splenium of corpus callosum [SCC]), where the difference in the FA in the SCC was statistically significant between the two groups (P< 0.05). There was a positive correlation between the FA in the corpus callosum knee and speech scores in the neuropsychological development of the study group (P< 0.05). CONCLUSION: There was a premature development tendency for corpus callosum myelination in young children with HR-ASD, and the developmental tendency was visible in the SCC. There was also a positive relationship between corpus callosum knee development and language function.

[Clinical effect and mechanism of Jin's three-needle combined with Tongdu Tiaoshen acupuncture for intellectual disability in children].

OBJECTIVE: To observe the effect of Jin's three-needle combined with Tongdu Tiaoshen acupuncture on development level and activity of daily living in children with intellectual disability, and explore its mechanism. METHODS: A total of 60 children with intellectual disability were randomly divided into an observation group (30 cases, 2 cases dropped off) and a control group (30 cases, 2 cases dropped off). In the control group, rehabilitation training and routine acupuncture were adopted, 30 min each time, once a day, 6 times a week for 3 months. On the base of the treatment as the control group, Jin's three-needle combined with Tongdu Tiaoshen acupuncture were adopted in the observation group. Jin's three-needle was applied at Sishenzhen, Zhisanzhen, Naosanzhen and Niesanzhen for 1 h, Shouzhizhen and Zuzhizhen for 30 min. Tongdu Tiaoshen acupuncture was applied at Baihui (GV 20), Shenting (GV 24), Shuigou (GV 26), etc. for 30 min, once a day, 6 times a week for 3 months. Before and after treatment，the scores of developmental quotient (DQ) and activity of daily living (ADL) were recorded, and the serum levels of neuron-specific enolase (NSE) and monoamine neurotransmitters (dopamine [DA], norepinephrine [NE] and 5-hydroxytryptamine [5-HT]) were detected in the two groups. RESULTS: Compared before treatment, the scores of DQ and ADL and the serum levels of DA, NE, 5-HT after treatment were increased (P<0.05), the serum levels of NSE were decreased (P<0.05) in the two groups. After treatment, the scores of DQ and ADL and the serum levels of DA, NE, 5-HT in the observation group were higher than the control group (P<0.05), while the serum level of NSE was lower than the control group (P<0.05). CONCLUSION: On the base of rehabilitation training and routine acupuncture, Jin's three-needle combined with Tongdu Tiaoshen acupuncture can significantly improve development level and activity of daily living in children with intellectual disability, and its mechanism may be related to the regulation of serum levels of NSE and monoamine neurotransmitter.

CD73 regulates hepatic stellate cells activation and proliferation through Wnt/ß-catenin signaling pathway.

Alcoholic liver fibrosis (ALF) is commonly associated with long-term alcohol consumption and the activation of hepatic stellate cells (HSCs). Inhibiting the activation and proliferation of HSCs is a critical step to alleviate liver fibrosis. Increasing evidence indicates that ecto-5'-nucleotidase (CD73) plays a vital role in liver disease as a critical component of extracellular adenosine pathway. However, the regulatory role of CD73 in ALF has not been elucidated. In this study, both ethanol plus CCl4-induced liver fibrosis mice model and acetaldehyde-activated HSC-T6 cell model were employed and the expression of CD73 was consistently elevated in vivo and in vitro. C57BL/6 J mice were intraperitoneally injected with CD73 inhibitor Adenosine 5'-(α, ß-methylene) diphosphate sodium salt (APCP) from 5th week to the 8th week in the development of ALF. The results showed APCP could inhibit the activation of HSCs, reduce fibrogenesis marker expression and thus alleviate ALF. Silencing of CD73 inhibited the activation of HSC-T6 cells and promoted apoptosis of activated HSC-T6 cells. What's more, the proliferation of HSC-T6 cells was inhibited, which was characterized by decreased cell viability and cycle arrest. Mechanistically, Wnt/ß-catenin pathway was activated in acetaldehyde-activated HSC-T6 cells and CD73 silencing or overexpression could regulate Wnt/ß-catenin signaling pathway. Collectively, our study unveils the role of CD73 in HSCs activation, and Wnt/ß-catenin signaling pathway might be involved in this progression.