The Griffiths Development Scales-Chinese (GDS-C): A reliable and valid neurodevelopmental assessment tool in children with ASD aged 3-8 years old in Tianjin, China.

BACKGROUND: The reliability and validity of the Griffiths Development Scales-Chinese (GDS-C) for autistic children in China are unknown. Thus, it is urgent to verify the instrument's reliability and validity in this population. The aim of the study was to explore whether the GDS-C is reliable and valid for assessing neurodevelopment in autistic children. METHOD: This study included 296 autistic children and 141 typically developing children from 3 to 8 years of age in China. The reliability of the scale was estimated based on its internal consistency, test-retest reliability and interrater reliability. The validity of the scale was calculated based on the construct validity, discriminate validity and criterion validity. Receiver operating characteristic curves were used to calculate the general quotients (GQs) corresponding to the diagnostic classification within the Childhood Autism Rating Scale (CARS) scores. RESULTS: This study shows sufficient reliability (Cronbach's alpha = 0.957; test-retest reliability = 0.945 for the whole scale and 0.830-0.919 for the subscales; interrater reliability = 0.925 for the whole scale and 0.796-0.919 for the subscales). The results also provide good support for the validity of the GDS-C. In the discriminant analysis, 85.5% of the children in the autistic sample were correctly classified. The cutoff value for distinguishing autistic children from normal children within the CARS scale corresponds to a GQ of 84.83, and that for distinguishing severely autistic children from mild or moderately autistic children corresponds to a GQ of 66.60. CONCLUSION: Our findings suggest that the GDS-C may be a valid and reliable tool for assessing the neurodevelopment of autistic children.

Heme oxygenase-1-transduced bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells in reducing acute rejection and improving small bowel transplantation outcomes in rats.

BACKGROUND: We determined whether bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (BMMSCs) transduced with heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1), a cytoprotective and immune-protective factor, could improve outcomes for small bowel transplantation (SBTx) in rats. METHODS: We performed heterotopic SBTx from Brown Norway rats to Lewis rats, before infusing Ad/HO-1-transduced BMMSCs (Ad/HO-1/BMMSCs) through the superficial dorsal veins of the penis. Respective infusions with Ad/BMMSCs, BMMSCs, and normal saline served as controls. The animals were sacrificed after 1, 5, 7, or 10 days. At each time point, we measured small bowel histology and apoptosis, HO-1 protein and mRNA expression, natural killer (NK) cell activity, cytokine concentrations in serum and intestinal graft, and levels of regulatory T (Treg) cells. RESULTS: The saline-treated control group showed aggravated acute cellular rejection over time, with mucosal destruction, increased apoptosis, NK cell activation, and upregulation of proinflammatory and immune-related mediators. Both the Ad/BMMSC-treated group and the BMMSC-treated group exhibited attenuated acute cellular rejection at an early stage, but the effects receded 7 days after transplantation. Strikingly, the Ad/HO-1/BMMSC-treated group demonstrated significantly attenuated acute cellular rejection, reduced apoptosis and NK cell activity, and suppressed concentrations of inflammation and immune-related cytokines, and upregulated expression of anti-inflammatory cytokine mediators and increased Treg cell levels. CONCLUSION: Our data suggest that Ad/HO-1-transduced BMMSCs have a reinforced effect on reducing acute rejection and protecting the outcome of SBTx in rats.

Reduction of acute rejection by bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells during rat small bowel transplantation.

BACKGROUND: Bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (BMMSCs) have shown immunosuppressive activity in transplantation. This study was designed to determine whether BMMSCs could improve outcomes of small bowel transplantation in rats. METHODS: Heterotopic small bowel transplantation was performed from Brown Norway to Lewis rats, followed by infusion of BMMSCs through the superficial dorsal veins of the penis. Controls included rats infused with normal saline (allogeneic control), isogeneically transplanted rats (BN-BN) and nontransplanted animals. The animals were sacrificed after 1, 5, 7 or 10 days. Small bowel histology and apoptosis, cytokine concentrations in serum and intestinal grafts, and numbers of T regulatory (Treg) cells were assessed at each time point. RESULTS: Acute cellular rejection occurred soon after transplantation and became aggravated over time in the allogeneic control rats, with increase in apoptosis, inflammatory response, and T helper (Th)1/Th2 and Th17/Treg-related cytokines. BMMSCs significantly attenuated acute cellular rejection, reduced apoptosis and suppressed the concentrations of interleukin (IL)-2, IL-6, IL-17, IL-23, tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α, and interferon (IFN)-γ while upregulating IL-10 and transforming growth factor (TGF)-ß expression and increasing Treg levels. CONCLUSION: BMMSCs improve the outcomes of allogeneic small bowel transplantation by attenuating the inflammatory response and acute cellular rejection. Treatment with BMMSCs may overcome acute cellular rejection in small bowel transplantation.

Protective effect of bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells in intestinal barrier permeability after heterotopic intestinal transplantation.

AIM: To explore the protective effect of bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (BM MSCs) in the small intestinal mucosal barrier following heterotopic intestinal transplantation (HIT) in a rat model. METHODS: BM MSCs were isolated from male Lewis rats by density gradient centrifugation, cultured, and analyzed by flow cytometry. The HIT models were divided into a non-rejection group, saline-treated rejection group (via penile vein), and BM MSC-treated group (via penile vein). Intestinal mucosal barrier injury was estimated by diamine oxidase (DAO) and D-lactic acid (D-LA) expression levels. Tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), interferon-γ (INF-γ), interleukin-10 (IL-10), and transforming growth factor-ß (TGF-ß) were detected by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Ultrastructural change of tight junctions (TJs) was observed under transmission electron microscope. Expression levels of the TJ proteins occludin and zona occludens (ZO)-1, affected by the inflammatory factors, were measured using real-time polymerase chain reaction and Western blotting. RESULTS: The pathological score at each time point after surgery indicated significantly less serious injury in the BM MSCs-treated group than in the rejection group (P < 0.05). In the former, graft levels of DAO and D-LA were reduced, and TNF-α and INF-γ production was inhibited (at day 7: 10.6473 ± 0.0710 vs 17.2128 ± 0.4991, P < 0.05; 545.1506 ± 31.9416 vs 810.2637 ± 25.1175, P < 0.05). IL-10 and TGF-ß production was increased greatly (at day 7: 125.7773 ± 4.7719 vs 80.3756 ± 2.5866, P < 0.05; 234.5273 ± 9.3980 vs 545.1506 ± 31.9416, P < 0.05). There was increased expression of occludin and ZO-1 protein (at day 7: 0.2674 ± 0.0128 vs 0.1352 ± 0.0142, P < 0.05; at day 5: 0.7189 ± 0.0289 vs 0.4556 ± 0.0242, P < 0.05) and mRNA (at day 7: 0.3860 ± 0.0254 vs 0.1673 ± 0.0369, P < 0.05; at day 5: 0.5727 ± 0.0419 vs 0.3598 ± 0.0242, P < 0.05). CONCLUSION: BM MSCs can improve intestinal barrier permeability, repair TJs, and increase occludin and ZO-1 protein expression. With altered cytokine levels, they can protect the intestinal mucosa after transplantation.

Suppression of MicroRNA-203 improves survival of rat bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells through enhancing PI3K-induced cellular activation.

As a group of heterogeneous multipotent cells, mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) have potential in treatment of a variety of clinical diseases. However, the low survival of the transplanted MSCs reduced their therapeutic effects. In this study, we revealed that rno-miR-203 suppressed activity and colony formation and enhanced apoptosis of the rat bone marrow-derived MSCs (BM-MSCs). Using bioinformatics analysis, we found a potential miR-203 binding site within rat phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K) 3'UTR, and fluorescent reporter experiments validated the direct and negative regulation of PI3K expression by miR-203 through this site. Ectopic expression of PI3K rescued BM-MSCs from depressed activity induced by miR-203, and suppression of PI3K attenuated the increased BM-MSCs activity by miR-203 inhibitor treatment. Moreover, miR-203 blocking partly protected BM-MSCs from impairment caused by low nutrition. We conclude that inhibition of endogenous miR-203 elevated PI3K expression, which may strengthen PI3K/Akt pathway and promote BM-MSCs activity and survival. © 2014 IUBMB Life, 66(3):220-227, 2014.