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Neuroimaging has played an important part in advancing our understanding of the neurobiology of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). At the same time, neuroimaging studies of OCD have had notable limitations, including reliance on relatively small samples. International collaborative efforts to increase statistical power by combining samples from across sites have been bolstered by the ENIGMA consortium; this provides specific technical expertise for conducting multi-site analyses, as well as access to a collaborative community of neuroimaging scientists. In this article, we outline the background to, development of, and initial findings from ENIGMA's OCD working group, which currently consists of 47 samples from 34 institutes in 15 countries on 5 continents, with a total sample of 2,323 OCD patients and 2,325 healthy controls. Initial work has focused on studies of cortical thickness and subcortical volumes, structural connectivity, and brain lateralization in children, adolescents and adults with OCD, also including the study on the commonalities and distinctions across different neurodevelopment disorders. Additional work is ongoing, employing machine learning techniques. Findings to date have contributed to the development of neurobiological models of OCD, have provided an important model of global scientific collaboration, and have had a number of clinical implications. Importantly, our work has shed new light on questions about whether structural and functional alterations found in OCD reflect neurodevelopmental changes, effects of the disease process, or medication impacts. We conclude with a summary of ongoing work by ENIGMA-OCD, and a consideration of future directions for neuroimaging research on OCD within and beyond ENIGMA.

No diagnostic biomarkers are available for obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). Here, we aimed to identify magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) biomarkers for OCD, using 46 data sets with 2304 OCD patients and 2068 healthy controls from the ENIGMA consortium. We performed machine learning analysis of regional measures of cortical thickness, surface area and subcortical volume and tested classification performance using cross-validation. Classification performance for OCD vs. controls using the complete sample with different classifiers and cross-validation strategies was poor. When models were validated on data from other sites, model performance did not exceed chance-level. In contrast, fair classification performance was achieved when patients were grouped according to their medication status. These results indicate that medication use is associated with substantial differences in brain anatomy that are widely distributed, and indicate that clinical heterogeneity contributes to the poor performance of structural MRI as a disease marker.

This review summarizes the last decade of work by the ENIGMA (Enhancing NeuroImaging Genetics through Meta Analysis) Consortium, a global alliance of over 1400 scientists across 43 countries, studying the human brain in health and disease. Building on large-scale genetic studies that discovered the first robustly replicated genetic loci associated with brain metrics, ENIGMA has diversified into over 50 working groups (WGs), pooling worldwide data and expertise to answer fundamental questions in neuroscience, psychiatry, neurology, and genetics. Most ENIGMA WGs focus on specific psychiatric and neurological conditions, other WGs study normal variation due to sex and gender differences, or development and aging; still other WGs develop methodological pipelines and tools to facilitate harmonized analyses of "big data" (i.e., genetic and epigenetic data, multimodal MRI, and electroencephalography data). These international efforts have yielded the largest neuroimaging studies to date in schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, major depressive disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, substance use disorders, obsessive-compulsive disorder, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, autism spectrum disorders, epilepsy, and 22q11.2 deletion syndrome. More recent ENIGMA WGs have formed to study anxiety disorders, suicidal thoughts and behavior, sleep and insomnia, eating disorders, irritability, brain injury, antisocial personality and conduct disorder, and dissociative identity disorder. Here, we summarize the first decade of ENIGMA's activities and ongoing projects, and describe the successes and challenges encountered along the way. We highlight the advantages of collaborative large-scale coordinated data analyses for testing reproducibility and robustness of findings, offering the opportunity to identify brain systems involved in clinical syndromes across diverse samples and associated genetic, environmental, demographic, cognitive, and psychosocial factors.

The purpose of this review was to understand the impact of second generation antipsychotic (SGA)-induced weight gain on youth with autism spectrum disorders (ASDs), including the clinical evidence, mechanisms, monitoring guidelines, and treatments. To achieve this, multiple MEDLINE/PUBMED and Google database searches were performed and analyzed articles from January 2001 to April 2018. Existing evidences indicates youth with ASDs may be more prone to SGA-induced weight gain than youth with other psychiatric illnesses. The mechanism by which such weight gain occurs is unclear, but is likely multifactorial. Guidelines have been developed to monitor SGA-induced weight gain, though the existing guidelines have had limited adherence by clinicians. The available randomized control trials that have analyzed the benefit of metformin in youth suffering from SGA-induced weight gain have produced conflicting results, but the data looking specifically at youth with ASD have been positive. Increasing data on use of topiramate, melatonin, and zonisamide to treat SGA-induced weight gain in youth also exists and warrants further study. However, overall, the current understanding of the effect of SGA-induced weight gain on youth with ASD and the therapeutic use of medications like metformin is limited, but the existing literature provides useful guidelines for future research. The clinical algorithms for monitoring and managing SGA-induced weight gain have shown promise; however, their utility in routine clinical practice requires further investigation.

Herein we report an alternative eco-friendly method for the synthesis of 1,2,3,4-tetrahydroisoquinoline sulfonamide derivatives. All obtained compounds were screened for their in vitro inhibition of albumin denaturation, antioxidant, antitryptic and antibacterial activity, and have shown significant results. The lipophilicity was established using both reversed-phase thin layer chromatography and in silico calculations.

In this study, we report the synthesis of (±)-2-chloro-N-(4-methyl-2-oxo-2H-chromen-7-yl)-2-phenylacetamide through the reaction of 7-amino-4-methyl-2H-chromen-2-one with (±)-2-chloro-2-phenylacetyl chloride. The in vitro anti-inflammatory activity of the new compound was evaluated, and the results indicated that it exhibited superior activity compared to the standard, ibuprofen. The bio-functional hybrid compound underwent thorough detailed characterization utilizing 1H and 13C NMR, UV, and mass spectral analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Psychostimulants, such as methylphenidate, are thought to improve information processing in motivation-reward and attention-activation networks by enhancing the effects of more relevant signals and suppressing those of less relevant ones; however the nature of such reciprocal influences remains poorly understood. To explore this question, we tested the effect of methylphenidate on performance and associated brain activity in the Anticipation, Conflict, Reward (ACR) task. Sixteen healthy adult volunteers, ages 21-45, were scanned twice using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) as they performed the ACR task under placebo and methylphenidate conditions. A three-way repeated measures analysis of variance, with cue (reward vs. non-reward), target (congruent vs. incongruent) and medication condition (methylphenidate vs. placebo) as the factors, was used to analyze behaviors on the task. Blood oxygen level dependent (BOLD) signals, reflecting task-related neural activity, were evaluated using linear contrasts. Participants exhibited significantly greater accuracy in the methylphenidate condition than the placebo condition. Compared with placebo, the methylphenidate condition also was associated with lesser task-related activity in components of attention-activation systems irrespective of the reward cue, and less task-related activity in components of the reward-motivation system, particularly the insula, during reward trials irrespective of target difficulty. These results suggest that methylphenidate enhances task performance by improving efficiency of information processing in both reward-motivation and in attention-activation systems.

Background: Research examining the potential effects of stimulant exposure in childhood on subsequent development of substance use disorder (SUD) have focused on differences in the brain reward system as a function of risk. Methods: 18 drug naïve children ages 7 to 12 years (11 High Risk [ADHD + ODD/CD]; 7 Low Risk [ADHD only]), underwent fMRI scans before and after treatment with mixed amphetamine salts, extended release (MAS-XR). We examined correlations between clinical ratings and fMRI activation at baseline and following treatment as a function of risk status. Results: High Risk children had higher activation than Low Risk children at baseline during both the Reward and Surprising Non-Reward conditions. Treatment produced strong differential effects on brain activation pertinent to group and reward outcome. Conclusions: Findings support the hypothesized role of reward mechanisms in SUD risk, and suggest that stimulant treatment may have differential effects on reward processing in relation to SUD risk. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, we outline the eco-friendly mechanosynthesis of N-(2,2-diphenylethyl)-4-nitrobenzamide by reacting 2,2-diphenylethan-1-amine with 4-nitrobenzoyl chloride. The resulting bio-functional hybrid compound was meticulously characterized through the analysis of 1H-, 13C-NMR, UV, and detailed mass spectral analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Herein, we report the synthesis of 2-(2-fluoro-[1,1′-biphenyl]-4-yl)-N-(4-methyl-2-oxo-2H-chromen-7-yl)propanamide in the reaction between 7-amino-4-methyl-2H-chromen-2-one and (±)-flurbiprofen. The newly-obtained bio-functional hybrid compound was fully characterized via 1H, 13C NMR, UV, and mass spectral data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

They created two novel CT complexes, procainamide-chloranilic acid and procainamide-2,3-dichloro-5,6-dicyano-1,4-benzoquinone, using the electron donor procainamide, electron acceptor chloranilic acid, and 2,3-dichloro-5,6-dicyano-1,4-benzoquinone. The anti-inflammatory, anti-arthritic, antioxidant, reducing, and chelating activities of the synthesized compounds were evaluated. All reported compounds had high activity in terms of in vitro biological activities, making them excellent candidates for possible future medications. Manolov and co-workers [[4]] reported the synthesis of a series of novel compounds between ketoprofen and nitrogen-containing heterocyclic compounds (piperidine, pyrrolidine, 1,2,3,4-tetrahydroquinoline, and 1,2,3,4-tetrahydroisoquinoline). [Extracted from the article]

The title compound, (±)-N-(1,2-bis(3,4-dimethoxyphenyl)ethyl)-2-(2-fluoro-[1,1′-biphenyl]-4-yl)propanamide, was obtained for the first time from 1,2-bis(3,4-dimethoxyphenyl) ethan-1-amine and (±)-flurbiprofen in one step. The newly synthesized bio-functional hybrid compound was fully characterized using 1H, 13C-NMR, UV, and mass spectral data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Herein, we report the synthesis of four new hybrid molecules between ketoprofen or 2-(3-benzoylphenyl)propanoic acid and N-containing heterocyclic compounds, such as piperidine, pyrrolidine, 1,2,3,4-tetrahydroquinoline, and 1,2,3,4-tetrahydroisoquinoline. The obtained hybrid compounds were fully characterized using 1H- and 13C-NMR, UV-Vis, and HRMS spectra. Detailed HRMS analysis is provided for all novel hybrid molecules. The compounds were assessed for their in vitro anti-inflammatory and antioxidant activity. The lipophilicity of the hybrids was determined, both theoretically (cLogP) and experimentally (RM). The affinity of the compounds to the human serum albumin was assessed in silico by molecular docking study using two software, and the stability of the predicted complexes was evaluated by molecular dynamics study. All novel hybrids have shown very good HPSA activity, statistically close when compared to the reference—quercetin. The molecular docking confirmed the obtained in vitro results. Tetrahydroquinoline derivative 3c and tetrahydroisoquinoline derivative 3d have the highest affinity for albumin. They show stronger anti-inflammatory action than their predecessor, ketoprofen and the regularly used ibuprofen. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]