Article
Neurosciences
Sadia Ahmed, Sierrah D. Travis, Francisca V. Diaz-Bahamonde, Demisha D. L. Porter, Sara N. Henry, Julia Mykins, Aditya Ravipati, Aryn Booker, Jing Ju, Hanzhang Ding, Ashwin K. Ramesh, Alicia M. Pickrell, Maosen Wang, Stephen LaConte, Brittany R. Howell, Lijuan Yuan, Paul D. Morton
Summary: Abnormalities in the prefrontal cortex and white matter are key in many neurodevelopmental disorders, with recent focus on the influence of microorganisms on brain development. Research shows that microbiota plays a critical role in promoting white matter myelination during early life, affecting vulnerability to environmental insults leading to disabilities later in life.
FRONTIERS IN CELLULAR NEUROSCIENCE
(2021)
Article
Psychiatry
Alexandra Lautarescu, Alexandra F. Bonthrone, Maximilian Pietsch, Dafnis Batalle, Lucilio Cordero-Grande, J-Donald Tournier, Daan Christiaens, Joseph Hajnal, Andrew Chew, Shona Falconer, Chiara Nosarti, Suresh Victor, Michael C. Craig, A. David Edwards, Serena J. Counsell
Summary: Maternal prenatal depression is associated with neurodevelopmental and behavioral outcomes in offspring. This study found a positive association between maternal depressive symptoms and infant white matter density in the uncinate fasciculus, as well as a positive association between left uncinate fasciculus density and toddler social-emotional abilities.
TRANSLATIONAL PSYCHIATRY
(2022)
Article
Neurosciences
Karlen Lyons-Ruth, Banu Ahtam, Frances Haofei Li, Sarah Dickerman, Jennifer E. Khoury, Michaela Sisitsky, Yangming Ou, Michelle Bosquet Enlow, Martin H. Teicher, P. Ellen Grant
Summary: This study found that maternal withdrawal is associated with lower infant gray matter volume (GMV), while negative/inappropriate interaction is associated with lower overall white matter volume (WMV). Maternal withdrawal is also associated with reduced right hippocampal volume at older ages.
HUMAN BRAIN MAPPING
(2023)
Article
Immunology
Lei Jiang, Li Cheng, Han Chen, Haibin Dai, Dadao An, Qianyi Ma, Yanrong Zheng, Xiangnan Zhang, Weiwei Hu, Zhong Chen
Summary: Neonatal hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy often results in white matter injury, affecting lifelong cognitive function. The histamine H2 receptor negatively regulates oligodendrocyte differentiation and may serve as a therapeutic target for promoting remyelination. Antagonists of H2R show potential therapeutic value in improving outcomes associated with neonatal HIE.
JOURNAL OF EXPERIMENTAL MEDICINE
(2021)
Review
Endocrinology & Metabolism
Giang Nguyen, Louise Hayes, Lem Ngongalah, Theophile Bigirumurame, Laura Gaudet, Adefisayo Odeniyi, Angela Flynn, Lisa Crowe, Becky Skidmore, Alexandre Simon, Vikki Smith, Nicola Heslehurst
Summary: Maternal obesity is associated with an increased risk of adverse fetal and infant outcomes. This study explores the association between maternal adiposity and infant health. The findings suggest that certain measures of maternal adiposity may be useful for predicting infant outcomes.
Article
Neurosciences
Neva M. Corrigan, Vasily L. Yarnykh, Daniel S. Hippe, Julia P. Owen, Elizabeth Huber, T. Christina Zhao, Patricia K. Kuhl
Summary: Research indicates significant differences in the trajectories of myelination of cortical gray matter and white matter across brain regions during adolescence, highlighting the dominant role of cortical gray matter myelination in adolescent development.
Article
Neurosciences
Preeti Kar, Jess E. Reynolds, William Ben Gibbard, Carly McMorris, Christina Tortorelli, Catherine Lebel
Summary: Prenatal alcohol exposure is associated with alterations in brain white matter microstructure. Children with prenatal alcohol exposure show slower white matter development in certain brain regions, which may have implications for cognitive and behavioral learning.
HUMAN BRAIN MAPPING
(2022)
Article
Biology
Ali Abdollahzadeh, Ilya Belevich, Eija Jokitalo, Alejandra Sierra, Jussi Tohka
Summary: DeepACSON is a segmentation software based on deep learning that allows for efficient tracking and segmentation of ultrastructures in brain tissues, providing excellent analysis and evaluation results. By combining existing semantic segmentation methods with a novel shape decomposition technique, DeepACSON achieves effective instance segmentation and white matter morphology quantification in low-resolution 3D-EM datasets.
COMMUNICATIONS BIOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Medicine, General & Internal
Elisabeth Burnor, Dora Cserbik, Devyn L. Cotter, Clare E. Palmer, Hedyeh Ahmadi, Sandrah P. Eckel, Kiros Berhane, Rob McConnell, Jiu-Chiuan Chen, Joel Schwartz, Raymond Jackson, Megan M. Herting
Summary: The study suggests that annual exposure to PM2.5 during childhood is associated with increased restricted isotropic diffusion and decreased mean diffusivity of specific white matter tracts, potentially reflecting differences in the composition of white matter microarchitecture.
Article
Neurosciences
Shima Safaiyan, Simon Besson-Girard, Tugberk Kaya, Ludovico Cantuti-Castelvetri, Lu Liu, Hao Ji, Martina Schifferer, Garyfallia Gouna, Fumere Usifo, Nirmal Kannaiyan, Dirk Fitzner, Xianyuan Xiang, Moritz J. Rossner, Matthias Brendel, Ozgun Gokce, Mikael Simons
Summary: Research has identified white matter-associated microglia (WAMs) as a protective response during aging, characterized by phagocytic activity and lipid metabolism gene activation. WAMs depend on triggering receptor expressed on myeloid cells 2 (TREM2) signaling and are independent of apolipoprotein E (APOE) in contrast to mouse models of Alzheimer's disease.
Article
Clinical Neurology
Genevieve A. Le Bas, George J. Youssef, Jacqui A. Macdonald, Richard Mattick, Samantha J. Teague, Ingrid Honan, Jennifer E. McIntosh, Sarah Khor, Larissa Rossen, Elizabeth J. Elliott, Steve Allsop, Lucinda Burns, Craig A. Olsson, Delyse M. Hutchinson
Summary: The study examined the relationships between maternal bonding, negative affect, and infant social-emotional development. Strong continuities were found between bonding and negative affect across pregnancy and postpartum, with higher postnatal maternal bonding predicting infant social-emotional development.
JOURNAL OF AFFECTIVE DISORDERS
(2021)
Article
Nutrition & Dietetics
Yingqian Zhang, Bangcheng Zhao, Szeto Ignatius Man-Yau, Zhixiang Pan, Lijuan Gao, Qinxi Li, Cheng Tang, Yu Wang, Xun Tang, Zifu Zhao, Jingyu Hao, Sufang Duan, Yalu Yan, Ting Li, Zhihui Zhong
Summary: This study aimed to investigate the effects of Milk Fat Globule Membrane (MFGM) on brain development in piglets. The results showed that supplementing the diet with MFGM significantly improved the learning and memory abilities of piglets, with the optimal dose being 1.74 g MFGM per 100 g diet. MRI analysis revealed increased fractional anisotropy in the hippocampus of piglets in the MFGM-L group. Furthermore, there was a strong correlation between the accuracy of the T-maze test and hippocampal fractional anisotropy. These findings suggest that MFGM can enhance brain development in piglets.
FRONTIERS IN NUTRITION
(2023)
Article
Neurosciences
Ian Fuelscher, Christian Hyde, Phoebe Thomson, Nandita Vijayakumar, Emma Sciberras, Daryl Efron, Vicki Anderson, Philip Hazell, Timothy J. Silk
Summary: Compared with the non-ADHD group, both the remitted and persistent ADHD groups showed accelerated white matter development in thalamic, striatal, and superior longitudinal fasciculus pathways. In the remitted ADHD group, accelerated white matter development in corticospinal, frontopontine, striatal-premotor, and thalamopremotor pathways was associated with greater reductions in ADHD symptom severity. The persistent ADHD group showed ongoing white matter alterations along sensorimotor pathways.
BIOLOGICAL PSYCHIATRY-COGNITIVE NEUROSCIENCE AND NEUROIMAGING
(2023)
Article
Cell Biology
Natalie Busby, Sarah Newman-Norlund, Sara Sayers, Roger Newman-Norlund, Sarah Wilson, Samaneh Nemati, Chris Rorden, Janina Wilmskoetter, Nicholas Riccardi, Rebecca Roth, Julius Fridriksson, Leonardo Bonilha
Summary: This study found that white matter hyperintensities (WMHs) are independently associated with premature brain aging. This finding underscores the impact of white matter disease on global brain integrity and progressive age-like brain atrophy.
Article
Neurosciences
J. Zhang, K. Xia, M. Ahn, S. C. Jha, R. Blanchett, J. J. Crowley, J. P. Szatkiewicz, F. Zou, H. Zhu, M. Styner, J. H. Gilmore, R. C. Knickmeyer
Summary: This study on genetic influences on early white matter development in neonates identified a latent measure of white matter microstructure and a significant intronic SNP in PSMF1 on chromosome 20 that exceeded the conventional GWAS threshold. Additional loci near genes associated with axon growth and guidance, fasciculation, and myelination were also found.
Article
Food Science & Technology
Chrissa Petersen, Divya Bharat, Umesh D. Wankhade, Ji-Seok Kim, Brett Ronald Cutler, Christopher Denetso, Samira Gholami, Samantha Nelson, Jessica Bigley, Aspen Johnson, Sree Chintapalli, Brian D. Piccolo, Adhini Kuppuswamy Satheesh Babu, Henry A. Paz, Kartik Shankar, J. David Symons, Pon Velayutham Anandh Babu
Summary: This study investigates the effects of dietary blueberries on vascular complications and gut microbiome in diabetic mice. The results show that blueberry supplementation can alleviate vascular inflammation, improve arterial endothelial function, and support the growth of commensal microbes.
MOLECULAR NUTRITION & FOOD RESEARCH
(2022)
Article
Endocrinology & Metabolism
Catherine C. Cohen, Wei Perng, Traci A. Bekelman, Brandy M. Ringham, Ann Scherzinger, Kartik Shankar, Dana Dabelea
Summary: This study aimed to examine the association between nutrient intakes in childhood and abdominal and hepatic fat depots in adolescence. It found that fat intake in childhood was associated with abdominal subcutaneous adipose tissue, starch intake was associated with hepatic fat, and animal protein intake was associated with visceral adipose tissue in boys.
Article
Pediatrics
Catherine C. Cohen, Ellen C. Francis, Wei Perng, Katherine A. Sauder, Ann Scherzinger, Shikha S. Sundaram, Kartik Shankar, Dana Dabelea
Summary: This study found an association between maternal lipid concentrations, especially in early pregnancy, and higher offspring hepatic fat. Adjusting for potential confounders or mediators did not affect the associations.
Article
Physiology
Adam Corken, Keshari M. Thakali
Summary: Currently, obesity is becoming alarmingly common worldwide, with growing evidence suggesting a link between maternal health during gestation and the development of obesity in offspring. Maternal obesity contributes to the persistent rise in obesity rates and conveys an increased risk for various diseases, including cardiovascular disease. Perivascular adipose tissue (PVAT), which regulates vascular tone, is disrupted in individuals with obesity, leading to vascular dysfunction. The changes in adipocyte and leukocyte populations within PVAT in obesity promote an inflammatory state, further contributing to the onset and progression of cardiovascular disease. Despite our current understanding, the interplay between obesity, PVAT disruption and cardiovascular disease has not been studied in the context of maternal programming effects. This perspective aims to explore the maternal contribution to the relationship between obesity, PVAT disruption and cardiovascular disease, with a focus on the interaction between PVAT leukocytes as a potential target in combating the obesity epidemic and its secondary health consequences.
FRONTIERS IN PHYSIOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Endocrinology & Metabolism
Begum Aydogan Mathyk, Brian D. Piccolo, Fernanda Alvarado, Kartik Shankar, Perrie O'Tierney-Ginn
Summary: Maternal obesity is associated with neonatal adiposity and cord blood metabolites, but these associations differ between offspring of obese and normal-weight women, with different fatty acid profiles observed in the cord blood of obese women's offspring.
AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PHYSIOLOGY-ENDOCRINOLOGY AND METABOLISM
(2022)
Meeting Abstract
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Davis Lee, Adam Corken, Elizabeth C. Wahl, Keshari M. Thakali
Article
Surgery
Megan Laughlin, Makenzie Kapales, Keshari Thakali, Marc Girardot, Morten Jensen
Summary: This study investigates the effects of glutaraldehyde fixation on the functional properties of venous tissue to establish a benchmark for alternative fixation methods. Glutaraldehyde fixation of venous tissue is confirmed by a significant difference in the shrink temperature between fresh and treated samples. There are significant differences in the remaining tissue following digestion between venous and cardiac tissue. The study emphasizes the importance of tissue-specific evaluation in the development of alternative xenograft fixation methods to improve outcomes with bioprosthetic venous valves.
Article
Nutrition & Dietetics
Martin J. J. Ronis, Horacio Gomez-Acevedo, Kartik Shankar, Leah Hennings, Neha Sharma, Michael L. Blackburn, Isabelle Miousse, Harry Dawson, Celine Chen, Kelly E. Mercer, Thomas M. Badger
Summary: This study found that soy infant formula does not have estrogenic effects or significantly alter male reproductive development in newborn male piglets, compared to sow milk and milk formula.
Article
Pediatrics
Stephanie P. Gilley, Meghan L. Ruebel, Clark Sims, Ying Zhong, Donald Turner, Renny S. Lan, Lindsay M. Pack, Brian D. Piccolo, Sree Chintapalli, Ann Abraham, Lars Bode, Aline Andres, Kartik Shankar
Summary: Maternal obesity is associated with changes in infant fecal microbiome, short-chain fatty acids (SCFA), and human milk oligosaccharides (HMO). Offspring of women with obesity have lower abundance of SCFA-producing bacteria and lower levels of faecal butyric acid. Overall microbial richness may aid in prediction of elevated adiposity in later infancy.
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Jin-Ran Chen, Perry C. Caviness, Haijun Zhao, Beau Belcher, Umesh D. Wankhade, Kartik Shankar, Michael L. Blackburn, Oxana P. Lazarenko
Summary: Studies have shown that maternal chronic poor-quality diet, especially a high fat diet, is associated with reduced bone density and childhood fractures in offspring. The research findings indicate that maternal high fat diet changes histone methylation and acetylation epigenetic marks, which regulate the expression of genes controlling osteoblastogenesis.
Article
Microbiology
Minghua Tang, Nicholas E. Weaver, Daniel N. Frank, Diana Ir, Charles E. Robertson, Jennifer F. Kemp, Jamie Westcott, Kartik Shankar, Ana L. Garces, Lester Figueroa, Antoinette K. Tshefu, Adrien L. Lokangaka, Shivaprasad S. Goudar, Manjunath Somannavar, Sumera Aziz, Sarah Saleem, Elizabeth M. McClure, K. Michael Hambidge, Audrey E. Hendricks, Nancy F. Krebs
Summary: The objective of this study was to characterize the changes in gut microbiota during pregnancy and to determine the effects of nutritional intervention on gut microbiota in women from sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia, and Central America. The results showed that the composition of gut microbial community changed significantly during pregnancy, with a decrease in alpha-diversity. Nutritional intervention did not have a significant impact on inflammatory biomarkers.
FRONTIERS IN MICROBIOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Catherine C. Cohen, Dana Dabelea, Gregory Michelotti, Lu Tang, Kartik Shankar, Michael Goran, Wei Perng
Summary: This study aimed to assess the intermediary metabolic alterations between sugar-sweetened beverage intake and cardiometabolic risk factors in youth. The researchers identified a panel of lipid metabolites that may serve as biomarkers linking sugar-sweetened beverage intake to dyslipidemia risk in youth.
Article
Physiology
Harrison D. Stierwalt, E. Matthew Morris, Adrianna Maurer, Udayan Apte, Kathryn Phillips, Tiangang Li, Grace M. E. Meers, Lauren G. Koch, Steven L. Britton, Greg Graf, R. Scott Rector, Kelly Mercer, Kartik Shankar, John P. Thyfault
Summary: The study found that high aerobic capacity and exercise are associated with upregulation of bile acid synthesis and greater fecal excretion of cholesterol and bile acid, which may contribute to the protection against hepatic steatosis in rodents.
PHYSIOLOGICAL REPORTS
(2022)
Article
Nutrition & Dietetics
Catherine C. Cohen, Kylie K. Harrall, Stephanie P. Gilley, Wei Perng, Katherine A. Sauder, Ann Scherzinger, Kartik Shankar, Shikha S. Sundaram, Deborah H. Glueck, Dana Dabelea
Summary: This study found that children with higher hepatic fat in early childhood had smaller birth weight and faster adiposity accretion in the first 5 years. This suggests that promoting healthy body composition early in life may be critical for preventing pediatric NAFLD.
AMERICAN JOURNAL OF CLINICAL NUTRITION
(2022)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Henry A. Paz, Anna-Claire Pilkington, Ying Zhong, Sree Chintapalli, James Sikes, Renny S. Lan, Kartik Shankar, Umesh D. Wankhade
Summary: The gut microbiota plays a critical role in energy homeostasis and its dysbiosis is associated with obesity. Maternal high-fat diet and beta-adrenergic stimuli independently alter the gut microbiota, but their combined regulation is not clear. This study investigated the combined effect of these factors on offspring microbiota and found that maternal high-fat diet altered the offspring's response to beta-adrenergic stimuli, as well as microbial composition and function. Additionally, exposure to different temperatures also affected bacterial function.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF MOLECULAR SCIENCES
(2022)
