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• We investigated the association between the concentrations of urine metals and dyslexia among children in China. • Urine selenium was negatively associated with the risk of dyslexia. • Co-exposure to argentum and selenium was associated to the risk of dyslexia among children in China. Exposures to heavy metals has been linked to many developmental disorders. However, few studies have investigated the effects of exposure and co-exposure to metals on dyslexia, especially with regard to dyslexics in China. To investigate the association between urine metal concentrations and dyslexia in a case-control study among children in China. A case-control study was conducted in the Tongji Reading Environment and Dyslexia (READ) research program. A total of 228 dyslexics and 228 controls were matched on gender, age (within one year), and grade. The concentrations of 21 urine metals were measured by an inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometer (ICP-MS). Multivariable conditional logistic regression models were applied to estimate the adjusted odds ratios (ORs) of Chinese dyslexia. After adjusting for potential confounders, two metals (selenium and argentum) were significantly associated with dyslexia in single-metal multivariable models. Argentum was positively associated with the risk of dyslexia, while selenium was negatively associated. In the multiple-metal model, compared with extreme quartiles, the ORs (95% CIs) for selenium was 0.36 (95% CI: 0.14–0.93; P trend = 0.029). In the joint association analysis, children with higher levels of urine argentum and lower level of urine selenium had a significantly higher risk of dyslexia than those with low levels of argentum and selenium (OR = 5.06, 95% CI: 1.67–18.84). The findings suggest that exposure to selenium and argentum may relate to dyslexia in China. Longitudinal studies are needed to further evaluate these relationships and investigate potential mechanisms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: Fibromyalgia (FM) has been associated with decreased hippocampal volume; however, the atrophy patterns of hippocampal subregions have not yet been identified. We therefore aimed to evaluate the volumes of hippocampal subregions in FM patients with mild cognitive impairment (MCI), and to explore the relationship between different subregional alterations and cognitive function., Methods: The study included 35 FM patients (21 with MCI and 14 without MCI) and 35 healthy subjects. All subjects performed the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) to assess cognitive function. FreeSurfer V.7.3.2 was used to calculate hippocampal subregion volumes. We then compared hippocampal subregion volumes between the groups, and analyzed the relationship between hippocampal subregion volume and cognitive function using a partial correlation analysis method., Results: Compared with the healthy subjects, FM patients with MCI had smaller hippocampal volumes in the left and right CA1 head, Molecular layer head, GC-DG head, and CA4 head, and in the left Presubiculum head. Poorer executive function, naming ability, and attention were associated with left CA1 head and left Molecular layer head atrophy. By contrast, hippocampal subregion volumes in the FM patients without MCI were slightly larger than or similar to those in the healthy subjects, and were not significantly correlated with cognitive function., Conclusion: Smaller volumes of left CA1 head and left Molecular layer head were associated with poorer executive function, naming ability, and attention in FM patients with MCI. However, these results were not observed in the FM patients without MCI. These findings suggest that the hippocampal subregions of FM patients might present compensatory mechanisms before cognitive decline occurs., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2024 Long, Xie, Wang, Xu, Gao, Fang, Xu, Zhang, Lv and Wu.)

Objectives: The prevention of cognitive impairment in the elderly is one of the public health priority areas. However, the relationship between closed-eye unipedal standing and cognitive impairment remains unclear., Methods: This study was conducted on a group of elderly individuals from a community, using a prospective cohort study design. Participants were monitored for 7 years and were diagnosed with new-onset cognitive impairment. Logistic regression models and restricted cubic spline (RCS) were used to investigate the relationship between closed-eye unipedal standing and cognitive impairment. Stratified analysis by baseline characteristics were also performed., Results: At baseline, 1,652 people aged 65 years or older were enrolled. Ultimately, 880 participants completed the follow-up and 155 (17.61%) of them satisfied the diagnostic criteria for cognitive impairment at follow-up. Compared to the closed-eye unipedal standing low group as the reference, the middle (OR = 0.601, 95% CI: 0.396-0.911) and high (OR = 0.508, 95% CI: 0.329-0.785) groups had significantly lower cognitive impairment risks. RCS analysis indicated a linear relationship ( P non - linear = 0.177), with a reduced risk of developing cognitive impairment when the duration of closed-eye unipedal standing was exceeded ~2.920 s. Stratified analysis showed that for female, aged 70 years or younger, with 3 or more years of education, without lack of exercise and without falls within 1 year subgroup, the elderly in the high group of closed-eye unipedal standing had significantly reduced cognitive impairment risks., Conclusion: Among the elderly population, closed-eye unipedal standing duration was linearly and negatively associated with the cognitive impairment risk. The closed-eye unipedal standing duration might be a predictive index for cognitive impairment in the elderly., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2024 Wang, Guo, Huang, Zhang, Xiang, Zeng, Zhou, Xie, Guo and Yang.)

Although recent genome-wide association studies have identified risk loci that strongly associates with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), how to pinpoint the causal genes remains a challenge. We aimed to pinpoint the potential causal genes and explore the possible susceptibility and mechanism. A convergent functional genomics (CFG) method was used to prioritize the candidate genes by combining lines of evidence, including Sherlock analysis, spatio-temporal expression patterns, expression analysis, protein-protein interactions, co-expression and association with brain structure. A higher score in the CFG approach suggested that more evidence supported this gene as an ASD risk gene. We screened genes with higher CFG scores for candidate functional single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs). A genotyping experiment (602 ASD children and 604 healthy sex-matched children) and the dual-luciferase reporter gene assay were followed to validate the effects of SNPs. We identified three genes (MAPT, ZNF285, and TIGD5) as candidate causal genes using the CFG approach. The genotyping experiment showed that TIGD5 rs75547282 was associated with an increased risk of ASD under the dominant model (OR = 1.37, 95% CI = 1.09-1.72, P = 0.006) though the statistical power was limited (5.2%). The T allele of rs75547282 activated the expression of TIGD5 compared with the C allele in the dual-luciferase reporter assay. Our study indicates that such comprehensive integrative analyses may be an effective way to explore promising ASD susceptibility variants and needs to be further investigated in future research. Genotyping experiments should, however, be based on a larger population sample to increase statistical power. LAY SUMMARY: We set out to pinpoint the potential causal genes of ASD and explore the possible susceptibility and mechanism by combining lines of evidence from different analyses. Our results show that TIGD5 rs75547282 is associated with the risk of ASD in the Han Chinese population. In addition, a similar framework to seek promising ASD risk variants could be further investigated in future research Autism Res 2021, 14: 631-644. © 2021 International Society for Autism Research and Wiley Periodicals LLC., (© 2021 International Society for Autism Research, Wiley Periodicals LLC.)

Myelodysplastic syndromes (MDSs) are a group of heterogeneous hematopoietic stem/progenitor cells clonal diseases, characteristic features with myeloid dysplasia, leading to abnormality of neutrophils. Recent studied have showed that neutrophils act not only as professional killers, but also as regulators of innate and adaptive immune in infection and inflammatory condition. The CD54 high CD181 low neutrophils are a kind of reverse-transmigrated neutrophils characterized proinflammatory phenotype. We investigated the frequency and functional properties of circulating CD54 high CD181 low neutrophils in patients with untreated MDS. Frequency of CD54 high CD181 low neutrophils was significantly increased in MDS patients and related to the severity of the disease. Furthermore, CD54 high CD181 low neutrophils suppressed CD8+ T cells functions in vitro . CD54 high CD181 low neutrophils lead to upregulation of PD1 on CD8+ T cells. Higher CD54 high CD181 low neutrophils were related to poor prognosis and more infections. The frequency of CD54 high CD181 low neutrophils decreased in high risk MDS patients who had response after treatment with decitabine. Overall, we identified CD54 high CD181 low neutrophils expanded in MDS. The exact mechanisms of increased CD54 high CD181 low neutrophils and its effect on immune function remain to be elucidated., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2021 Yang, Li, Liu, Xie, Zhang, Niu, Shao, Xing and Wang.)