干细胞治疗糖尿病的研究现状及未来

目的:综述干细胞治疗糖尿病的研究现状及未来发展。资料来源:应用计算机检索Pubmed2000-01/2006-11有关干细胞治疗糖尿病方面文献,检索词“diabetes mellitus and stem cell not review”,限定文章语言种类为English。资料选择:对检索到的干细胞治疗糖尿病相关文献进行整理,选取针对性强文章。同一领域文献则选择近期发表或权威杂志文章。资料提炼:共检索到359篇相关文献,有关胚胎干细胞、胰腺干细胞、造血干细胞、神经干细胞、骨髓基质干细胞在糖尿病方面研究文章50篇,其中29篇符合要求。资料综合:干细胞极强的自我更新能力和多向分化潜能为糖尿病的细胞治疗开辟了新途径,按其发育阶段不同可以将干细胞分为胚胎干细胞和胰腺干细胞、造血干细胞、神经干细胞、骨髓基质干细胞等成体干细胞。干细胞移植是治疗糖尿病的一条新途径。干细胞生成胰岛素分泌细胞前需要经过诱导分化、细胞选择和细胞成熟3个阶段。干细胞治疗糖尿病研究已取得一定进展,部分实验已纠正糖尿病动物的高血糖状态。结论:干细胞定向分化为胰岛β细胞研究为糖尿病患者点燃了新希望,其勿庸置疑的成为治疗糖尿病的最佳种子细胞。     

“双重束缚”解析

目的:介绍了Bateson提出双重束缚概念的过程,阐述双重束缚概念的特征,并且论述了这一概念对心理治疗起到的积极作用以及概念本身存在的问题。资料来源:应用计算机在ProQuest数据库、EBSCOhost数据库中搜索1980-01/2006-05相关文章,检索的关键词为“doublebind”,“paradox”;在西南大学图书馆手工查找有关“双重束缚”资料。资料选择:对查找的资料进行筛选,纳入阐述双重束缚提出的历史、概念以及应用的文献。排除:①非实证研究和综述。②管理、文化和道德中双重束缚的研究。③重复性的研究。资料提炼:共收集49篇文章,选择与本文相关的28篇进行综述。另外还参考《理解人性》,《家庭治疗基础》两本书籍。资料综合:“双重束缚”是Bateson结合“再学习”和“Russellian矛盾”两个概念提出的。对“双重束缚”的各种定义均体现了这一概念的如下特征:矛盾性、命令性、不平等性、不可逃避性和长期性。“双重束缚”在心理治疗中有广泛的应用,但是各种对“双重束缚”的研究都存在着不足。结论:“双重束缚”的提出有其特定的历史背景,它对精神分裂、精神错乱的形成有一定的解释力。     

The Etiology of Stability and Change in Religious Values and Religious Attendance

Studies have demonstrated little to no heritability for adolescent religiosity but moderate genetic, shared environmental, and nonshared environmental influences on adult religiosity. Only one longitudinal study of religiosity in female twins has been conducted (Koenig et al., Dev Psychol 44:532?C543, 2008), and reported that persistence from mid to late adolescence is due to shared environmental factors, but persistence from late adolescence to early adulthood was due to genetic and shared environmental factors. We examined the etiology of stability and change in religious values and religious attendance in males and females during adolescence and early adulthood. The heritability of both religious values and religious attendance increased from adolescence to early adulthood, although the increase was greater for religious attendance. Both genetic and shared environmental influences contributed to the stability of religious values and religious attendance across adolescence and young adulthood. Change in religious values was due to both genetic and nonshared environmental influences specific to early adulthood, whereas change in religious attendance was due in similar proportions to genetic, shared environmental, and non-shared environmental influences.     

Awards Presented at the 41st Annual Meeting of the BEHAVIOR GENETICS ASSOCIATION

Announcement

Awards Presented at the 41st Annual Meeting of the BEHAVIOR GENETICS ASSOCIATION Thursday, June 9th, Hotel Viking, Newport, RI, USA     

The lymphotoxin Cys13Arg polymorphism and cognitive functioning in individuals with schizophrenia

Genetic factors that modulate the immune response have been implicated as risk factors for schizophrenia and cognitive impairment. We assessed the correlation between cognitive functioning and the LTA Cys13Arg polymorphism in 351 individuals with schizophrenia, 122 with bipolar disorder, and 160 controls. There was a significant association between cognitive functioning and the LTA Cys13Arg polymorphism within the schizophrenia (p<0.008) but not the other diagnostic groups. There was no association between cognitive functioning and the two other polymorphisms in the same gene complex. The LTA Cys13Arg polymorphism may represent a risk factor for cognitive impairment in individuals with schizophrenia.     

C-reactive protein is associated with the severity of cognitive impairment but not of psychiatric symptoms in individuals with schizophrenia

OBJECTIVES: We investigated the association between serum levels of C-reactive protein (CRP), a marker of inflammation, and the severity of psychopathology and cognitive impairment in schizophrenia. METHODS: We measured the levels of CRP in N=413 individuals with schizophrenia. Symptom severity was evaluated with the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS) and cognitive functioning with the Repeatable Battery for the Assessment of Neuropsychological Status (RBANS). RESULTS: The individuals with CRP >or=5.0 mg/microl had significantly lower RBANS cognitive scores than those with CRP <5.0 mg/microl (F=8.07, p<.005). However the CRP groups did not differ in the severity of positive, negative, or general PANSS symptoms (all p>.2). CONCLUSIONS: Elevated serum levels of C-reactive protein in schizophrenia are associated with the severity of cognitive impairment but not of psychiatric symptoms. The long term consequences of elevated levels of CRP require further investigation.     

Dietary energy density increases during early childhood irrespective of familial predisposition to obesity: results from a prospective cohort study

OBJECTIVE: This study compared 4-year changes in daily energy density (ED; kcal/g) in children born at different risk for obesity, characterized the stability of ED and examined associations between ED and child body composition. DESIGN: Prospective cohort study to measure habitual dietary ED of children who are born at different risk for obesity. SUBJECTS: Children who were born at high risk (n=22) or low risk (n=27) for obesity based on maternal pre-pregnancy weight. MEASUREMENTS: Three-day food records were collected from children's mothers at child ages 3, 4, 5 and 6 years. Three categories of ED were computed (food only, food and milk, and food and all beverages) and body composition assessed at each year.Results:The mean (+/-s.e.m.) ED increased over time across all children (linear trend: P<0.003): 2.18+/-0.07 to 2.32+/-0.06 kcal/g (food only); 1.66+/-0.07 to 1.82+/-0.06 kcal/g (food and milk); and 1.24+/-0.04 to 1.37+/-0.05 kcal/g (food and all beverages). Intraindividual coefficients of variation were smaller than those previously reported for adults. Weight indices were not correlated with dietary ED (P>0.05). CONCLUSION: Dietary ED increased in young children, irrespective of their predisposition to obesity, between the ages of 3 and 6 years. The genes that promote childhood obesity may not exert their influence through dietary ED, which may be more strongly influenced by environmental factors.     

Proven germline mosaicism in a father of two children with CHARGE syndrome

CHARGE syndrome is an autosomal dominant malformation syndrome caused by mutations in the CHD7 gene. The majority of cases are sporadic and only few familial cases have been reported. In these families, mosaicism in one parent, as well as parent- to-child transmission of a CHD7 mutation, has been described. In some further cases, germline mosaicism has been suggested. Here, we report the first case in which germline mosaicism could be demonstrated in a father of two affected children with CHARGE syndrome. The truncating mutation c.7302dupA in exon 34 of the CHD7 gene was found in both affected children but was not detected in parental lymphocytes. However, in DNA extracted from the father's spermatozoa, the c.7302dupA mutation could be identified. Furthermore, mutation analysis of DNA isolated from 59 single spermatozoa revealed that the c.7302dupA mutation occurs in 16 spermatozoa, confirming germline mosaicism in the father of the affected children. This result has a high impact for genetic counselling of the family and for their recurrence risk in further pregnancies.     

Association between cognitive functioning, exposure to Herpes Simplex Virus type 1, and the COMT Val158Met genetic polymorphism in adults without a psychiatric disorder

Previous studies have documented that serologic evidence of infection with the neurotropic human herpesvirus Herpes Simplex Virus type 1 (HSV-1) is associated with increased levels of cognitive dysfunction in individuals with schizophrenia or bipolar disorder. The catechol-o-methyl transferase (COMT) Val158Met polymorphism has also been associated with cognitive dysfunction in individuals with psychiatric disorders as well as in some control populations. We examined whether these factors are independently associated with cognitive functioning in adults without a history of a psychiatric disorder. A total of 240 individuals were evaluated with the Repeatable Battery for the Assessment of Neuropsychological Status (RBANS) and the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST). We measured IgG antibodies to HSV-1 by enzyme immunoassay and employed real time PCR to measure COMT Val158Met genotypes. Serological evidence of HSV-1 was significantly associated with a lower RBANS total score independent of demographic factors and the COMT Val158Met genotype. The strongest association between cognitive functioning and serological evidence of HSV-1 infection was with the domain of delayed memory. Serological evidence of HSV-1 infection was associated with an 18-fold increased odds of having a severe impairment in this domain. The Val/Val genotype of the COMT Val158Met polymorphism was also significantly associated with the RBANS total score and with a moderate decrease in the domain of attention. Infections with HSV-1 and the COMT Val158Val genotype are risk factors for cognitive deficits in non-elderly persons without a psychiatric disorder.     

Item response theory analysis of DSM-IV cannabis abuse and dependence criteria in adolescents

Objective:To examine three aspects of adolescent cannabis problems: do DSM-IV cannabis abuse and dependence criteria represent two different levels of severity of substance involvement, to what degree do each of the 11 abuse and dependence criteria assess adolescent cannabis problems, and do the DSM-IV items function similarly across different adolescent populations?Method:We examined 5,587 adolescents ages 11 to 19, including 615 youths in treatment for substance use disorders, 179 adjudicated youths, and 4,793 youths from the community. All of the subjects were assessed with a structured diagnostic interview. Item response theory was used to analyze symptom endorsement patterns.Results:Abuse and dependence criteria were not found to represent different levels of severity of problem cannabis use in any of the samples. Among the 11 abuse and dependence criteria, problems cutting down and legal problems were the least informative for distinguishing problem users. Two dependence criteria and three of the four abuse criteria indicated different severities of cannabis problems across samples.Conclusions:We found little evidence to support the idea that abuse and dependence are separate constructs for adolescent cannabis problems. Furthermore, certain abuse criteria may indicate severe substance problems, whereas specific dependence items may indicate less severe problems. The abuse items in particular need further study. These results have implications for the refinement of the current substance use disorder criteria for DSM-V.