[Application of the Children Neuropsychological and Behavioral Scale-Revision 2016 in young children with autism spectrum disorder].

OBJECTIVE: To compare the assessment results of the Children Neuropsychological and Behavioral Scale-Revision 2016 (CNBS-R2016) between young children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and global developmental delay (GDD, without ASD) and to explore whether CNBS-R2016 could be helpful to early identification of ASD. METHODS: A total of 260 ASD and 371 GDD children aged 18-30 months were enrolled to finish the assessment of CNBS-R2016. The development quotients (DQs) of the five domains of CNBS-R2016 including gross motor, fine motor, adaptability, language and social behavior were compared between the two groups. The receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was used to evaluate the value of the autism-predicted domain in identifying ASD and GDD. RESULTS: The DQs of all the five domains in the ASD group were lower than those in the GDD group (P<0.05). The language DQ and total DQ of the ASD group had a negative correlation with the score of the autism-predicted domain (rs=-0.566, -0.552 respectively, P<0.01). When the cut-off value of the autism-predicted domain was 10.5, the largest area under the ROC curve was 0.835, and the sensitivity and specificity for the diagnosis of ASD were 0.750 and 0.798 respectively. CONCLUSIONS: The development of ASD children aged 18-30 months is worse than that of GDD children. CNBS-R2016 may be helpful to distinguish ASD from children with developmental delay.

Bisphenol A alternatives bisphenol S and bisphenol F interfere with thyroid hormone signaling pathway in vitro and in vivo.

The wide use of the alternatives to bisphenol A (BPA) has raised concerns about their potential toxicities. Considering the disrupting activity of BPA on thyroid hormone (TH) signaling, we investigated whether bisphenol S (BPS) and bisphenol F (BPF), two leading alternatives, could interfere with TH signaling pathway using a series of assays in vitro and in vivo. In the fluorescence competitive binding assay, we found BPS and BPF, like BPA, bound to TH receptors (TRα and TRß), with the binding potencies an order of magnitude lower than BPA (BPA > BPF > BPS). Molecular docking data also show their binding potencies to TRs. In the coactivator recruitment assay, BPS and BPF recruited coactivator to TRß but not TRα, with weaker potencies than BPA. Correspondingly, agonistic actions of the three bisphenols in the absence or presence of T3 were observed in the TR-mediated reporter gene transcription assay. Also, all the three bisphenols induced TH-dependent GH3 cell proliferation, whereas BPA and BPF inhibited T3 induction in the presence of T3. As for in vivo assay, the three bisphenols like T3 induced TH-response gene transcription in Pelophylax nigromaculatus tadpoles, but in the presence of T3 altered T3-induced gene transcription in a biphasic concentration-response manner. These results for the first time demonstrate that BPS and BPF, like BPA, have potential to interfere with TH signaling pathway, i.e., they generally activate TH signaling in the absence of T3, but in the presence of TH, display agonistic or/and antagonistic actions under certain condition. Our study highlights the potential risks of BPS and BPF as BPA alternatives.

The effects and outcomes of electrolyte disturbances and asphyxia on newborns hearing.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the effect of electrolyte disturbances (ED) and asphyxia on infant hearing and hearing outcomes. STUDY DESIGN: We conducted newborn hearing screening with transient evoked otoacoustic emission (TEOAE) test on a large scale (>5000 infants). The effects of ED and asphyxia on infant hearing and hearing outcomes were evaluated. RESULT: The pass rate of TEOAE test was significantly reduced in preterm infants with ED (83.1%, multiple logistic regression analysis: P<0.01) but not in full-term infants with ED (93.6%, P=0.41). However, there was no significant reduction in the pass rate in infants with asphyxia (P=0.85). We further found that hypocalcaemia significantly reduced the pass rate of TEOAE test (86.8%, P<0.01). In the follow-up recheck at 3 months of age, the pass rate remained low (44.4%, P<0.01). CONCLUSION: ED is a high-risk factor for preterm infant hearing. Hypocalcaemia can produce more significant impairment with a low recovery rate.