Rapid In Situ Hybridization using Oligonucleotide Probes on Paraformaldehyde-prefixed Brain of Rats with Serotonin Syndrome

3,4-Methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA; ecstasy) toxicity may cause region-specific changes in serotonergic mRNA expression due to acute serotonin (5-hydroxytryptamine; 5-HT) syndrome. This hypothesis can be tested using in situ hybridization to detect the serotonin 5-HT_2A receptor gene htr2a. In the past, such procedures, utilizing radioactive riboprobe, were difficult because of the complicated workflow that needs several days to perform and the added difficulty that the technique required the use of fresh frozen tissues maintained in an RNase-free environment. Recently, the development of short oligonucleotide probes has simplified in situ hybridization procedures and allowed the use of paraformaldehyde-prefixed brain sections, which are more widely available in laboratories. Here, we describe a detailed protocol using non-radioactive oligonucleotide probes on the prefixed brain tissues. Hybridization probes used for this study include dapB (a bacterial gene coding for dihydrodipicolinate reductase), ppiB (a housekeeping gene coding for peptidylprolyl isomerase B), and htr2a (a serotonin gene coding for 5-HT_2A receptors). This method is relatively simply, cheap, reproducible and requires less than two days to complete.     

抑郁症患者儿童期受虐对单胺类神经递质及相关因素的影响

目的：探索抑郁症患者儿童期受虐对血清5．羟色胺（5-hydroxytryptamine5-HT）、多巴胺（Dopamine DA）和去甲肾上腺素（Norepinephrine NE）水平及相关因素的影响。方法：对101例抑郁症患者采用儿童受虐问卷（CTQ）、24项汉密尔顿抑郁量表（HAMD24）、自杀意念量表（SIOSS）及Beck绝望量表（BHS）评定儿童期受虐程度,抑郁严重程度,自杀意念强度和绝望严重程度。采用酶联免疫吸附法（ELLSA）测定血清5-HT、DA和NE水平。根据CTQ评分将总分≥50分,分量表≥10分定为被虐待。结果：（1）情感忽视组血清5-HT和DA水平明显低于无忽视组（35．63±62．43,62．58±79．50;P〈0．05;4．08±6．30ng／1,7．61±11．47ng／1,P〈0．05）,受虐组血清NE水平虽高于无受虐组但无统计学意义;（2）情感受虐组和躯体受虐组的HAMD24评分明显高于无受虐组（30．60±9．84,26．77±6．54P〈0．05;31．00±9．59,27．79±8．23;P〈0．05）．遭受性虐待组SIOSS评分明显高于无虐待组（17．07±3．29,14．26±3．63,P〈0．01）。情感受虐组BHS评分明显高于无受虐组（12．13±3．32,10．35±4．30,P〈0．05）（3）儿童期情感被忽视和躯体被虐待评分与BHS评分呈明显正相关（r=0．22,r=0．23,P〈0．05）,被性虐待程度与SIOSS评分有明显相关（r=0．35,P〈0．01）。结论：儿童期情感被忽视的抑郁症患者血清5-HT和DA水平偏低,儿童期受虐的抑郁症患者可能存在下丘脑-垂体-肾上腺轴的不稳定。儿童期受虐是抑郁发作的危险因素并有更严重的抑郁症状。     

Focus: Preventive Medicine: The Opportunity of Social Ecological Resilience in the Promotion of Youth Health and Wellbeing: A Narrative Review

Youth experience adversity that increases their risk for immediate and long-term health consequences. Resilience has traditionally been conceptualized as an internal disposition or trait that supports youth to overcome that risk and avoid the negative impact on their health and wellbeing. However, this model of resilience overemphasizes the role of the individual and their capacity to control their environment, while minimizing the integral role of relational, social, structural, and cultural contexts in which they live. Instead, social ecological resilience (SER) emphasizes the influence of social and environmental factors on individual processes and outcomes and offers different pathways for preventive interventions to promote youth health and wellbeing. Within preventive medicine, it is important for researchers and practitioners to understand the processes that support or impede SER, particularly in youth when adversity can impact health throughout the lifespan. The purpose of this review was to examine the contributions and scope of the SER model in research on youth, with the goal of advancing SER-informed research and interventions within preventive medicine. Following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) approach as a guiding framework, we conducted a narrative review of the literature. The review characterizes 37 existing studies across the fields of education, psychology, and social work in terms of topic, focal population, methods, use of SER, and implications. We conclude with recommendations for future applications of SER to promote the health and wellbeing of youth.     

Proximity to SNAP-authorized retailers and child maltreatment reports

The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) has been shown to have positive benefits for children. Families may face fewer barriers to accessing food they can purchase with their benefits if more stores in their neighborhoods accept SNAP benefits. We examine whether proximity to stores accepting SNAP benefits is related to child maltreatment (abuse and neglect) reports, particularly those potentially related to food insecurity. We combine geographically identified child maltreatment report data from the state of Connecticut from 2011 through 2015 with state SNAP-authorized retailer data. Using within-Census block group changes in the presence of a SNAP-authorized store, we find that in large, rural areas, one additional SNAP store is associated with a 4.4 percent decrease in the child maltreatment report rate (p < 0.05), and an 11.3 percent decrease in substantiated cases of maltreatment (p < 0.10), even net of changing zip code level factors and time-invariant neighborhood characteristics. The relationship between a neighborhood SNAP store and child maltreatment reports in these rural areas is largely driven by neglect, concentrated among young and school-aged children (ages 0–9), and primarily due to fewer reports by medical personnel. We find no effects of a neighborhood SNAP store on child maltreatment reports in smaller, more densely populated neighborhoods. Sensitivity checks affirm these results. Results indicate the benefits of access to SNAP retailers on the child welfare system and child well-being more broadly, especially in rural areas.     

Molecular basis of obesity: current status and future prospects

Obesity is a global health problem that is gradually affecting each continent of the world. Obesity is a heterogeneous disorder, and the biological causes of obesity are complex. The rapid increase in obesity prevalence during the past few decades is due to major societal changes (sedentary lifestyle, over-nutrition) but who becomes obese at the individual level is determined to a great extent by genetic susceptibility. In this review, we evidence that obesity is a strongly heritable disorder, and provide an update on the molecular basis of obesity. To date, nine loci have been involved in Mendelian forms of obesity and 58 loci contribute to polygenic obesity, and rare and common structural variants have been reliably associated with obesity. Most of the obesity genes remain to be discovered, but promising technologies, methodologies and the use of "deep phenotyping" lead to optimism to chip away at the 'missing heritability' of obesity in the near future. In the longer term, the genetic dissection of obesity will help to characterize disease mechanisms, provide new targets for drug design, and lead to an early diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of obesity.     

Type I cannabinoid receptor trafficking: all roads lead to lysosome

The majority of G-protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) function at the cell surface, where they are activated by their ligands present in the extracellular milieu. Interestingly, type I cannabinoid receptor (CB(1) R), one of the most abundant GPCRs in the central nervous system, is predominantly intracellular. The important physiological roles of CB(1) R have sparked interest in the elucidation of the molecular mechanisms underlying the trafficking of this receptor and the role of intracellular CB(1) Rs. Thus far, results from different groups have been, at least in part, contradictory and the basis of CB(1) R intracellular localization remains controversial. In this commentary, by comparing the studies examining CB(1) R trafficking and localization, we identify technical or experimental ground responsible for the conflicting results. Finally, we propose a possible mechanism of CB(1) R trafficking that may reconcile the different models.     

WPA guidance on the protection and promotion of mental health in children of persons with severe mental disorders

This guidance details the needs of children, and the qualities of parenting that meet those needs. Parental mental disorders can damage the foetus during pregnancy through the action of drugs, prescribed or abused. Pregnancy and the puerperium can exacerbate or initiate mental illness in susceptible women. After their birth, the children may suffer from the social disadvantage associated with severe mental illness. The parents (depending on the disorder, its severity and its persistence) may have intermittent or prolonged difficulties with parenting, which may sometimes result in childhood psychological disturbance or child maltreatment. This guidance considers ways of preventing, minimizing and remedying these effects. Our recommendations include: education of psychiatrists and related professions about the effect of parental mental illness on children; revision of psychiatric training to increase awareness of patients as caregivers, and to incorporate relevant assessment and intervention into their treatment and rehabilitation; the optimum use of pharmacological treatment during pregnancy; pre-birth planning when women with severe mental illness become pregnant; development of specialist services for pregnant and puerperal women, with assessment of their efficacy; community support for parenting by mothers and fathers with severe mental disorders; standards of good practice for the management of child maltreatment when parents suffer from mental illness; the importance of multi-disciplinary teamwork when helping these families, supporting their children and ensuring child protection; the development of child and adolescent mental health services worldwide.