Fingerprint patterns in relation to an altered neurodevelopment in patients with autism spectrum disorder.

Dermatoglyphic patterns are permanently established and matured before the 24th week of gestation. Their frequencies and localization might be a good indicator of developmental instability in individuals with an altered neurodevelopment and show potential as biomarkers of autism spectrum disorder (ASD). In this study, fingerprint pattern counts and fluctuating asymmetry in the distribution of patterns are compared between 67 boys diagnosed with ASD (aged 5.11 ± 2.51 years) and 83 control boys (aged 8.58 ± 3.14 years). Boys with ASD had a higher rate of discordance in their fingerprint patterns (p = .0026), showing more often bilateral differences in the occurrence of certain patterns. A chi-square test revealed that the difference in pattern frequencies between boys with ASD and the control group is the most significant in frequencies of whorls, tented arches, and ulnar loops. Boys with ASD have significantly fewer ulnar loops, significantly more whorls, and tented arches in the right hand. The achieved results are in favor of the suggestion that prenatal influences, which play a role in the development of bilateral differences in fingerprint patterns up to the 24th week of gestation, may be a potential cause of an altered neurodevelopment in ASD individuals.

Potential of Salivary Biomarkers in Autism Research: A Systematic Review.

The diagnostic process for autism spectrum disorders (ASD) is based on a behavioral analysis of the suspected individual. Despite intensive research, no specific and valid biomarker has been identified for ASD, but saliva, with its advantages such as non-invasive collection, could serve as a suitable alternative to other body fluids. As a source of nucleic acid of both human and microbial origin, protein and non-protein molecules, saliva offers a complex view on the current state of the organism. Additionally, the use of salivary markers seems to be less complicated not only for ASD screening but also for revealing the etiopathogenesis of ASD, since enrolling neurotypical counterparts willing to participate in studies may be more feasible. The aim of the presented review is to provide an overview of the current research performed on saliva in relation to ASD, mutual complementing, and discrepancies that result in difficulties applying the observed markers in clinical practice. We emphasize the methodological limitations of saliva collection and processing as well as the lack of information regarding ASD diagnosis, which is critically discussed.

Autism spectrum disorder and new perspectives on the reliability of second to fourth digit ratio.

The second to fourth digit ratio (2D:4D) is according to previous studies a likely biomarker for prenatal testosterone exposure and its effect on the human brain. It was found to be linked to autism spectrum disorders (ASD). Recently, 2D:4D raised a lot of questions with regard to its stability and autism-related behaviors. Here, we present a cross-sectional study of 2D:4D in boys (N = 91, mean age 7.63) and adults (N = 36 mean age 22.8) with ASD as well as neurotypical students, 506 participants in total. Digit ratio was assessed by taking measurements from digital scans, compared between groups and correlated with the autism quotient. Significant differences were found in the digit ratio of children and adults. Both girls and boys had 2D:4D ratio lower than women and men, both on the right (p = 0.000 in females, p = 0.000 in males) and left hand (p = 0.018 in females, p = 0.011 in males). No significant differences were found in digit ratios between neurotypical subjects and those with ASD nor was there a relationship with the reported autistic traits, which leads us to question the reliability of 2D:4D and its relation to ASD.

The acute effect of psychosocial stress on the level of oxidative stress in children.

The effect of chronic stress on oxidative stress (OS) is commonly discussed while the effect of acute stress situation is not fully examined yet. The present study was aimed to analyse whether acute psychosocial strain causes changes in OS and antioxidant status. Unstimulated saliva was collected from 46 healthy prepubertal children during the control and stress day. On the stress day, collection was performed before and after a stress situation induced by the Trier social stress test. Saliva collection during the control day imitated the stress day without the stress strain. Samples were used for analysis of lipid peroxidation, thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS), advanced glycation end products (AGEs) and markers of antioxidant status, total antioxidant capacity (TAC) and ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP). On the stress day, increased level of FRAP was observed in the second saliva collection in comparison with the first collection. Within the same day, no significant changes in the levels of TBARS, AGEs and TAC were observed in samples taken before and after stress strain. Significantly higher levels of TBARS were observed on stress day in comparison to control day. In summary, acute psychosocial stress caused increase of FRAP during the stress day. TBARS did not increase during the stress day in the second sample but it was higher compared to the control day. None of the interactions with gender were statistically significant. It appears the short-term exposure to stress could potentially stimulate antioxidant activity.

Serious chronic disease of the cervical spine and trauma in a young female from the middle ages (Czech Republic).

The skeletal remains of the young female (20-24 years) from Grave JP/106, discovered in the Southern Suburb of the Breclav - Pohansko Stronghold (Early Middle Ages, 9th century-beginning of the 10th century, present day Czech Republic) display several noteworthy pathologies. The first is deformation of the mandible, which was most probably caused by a fracture of the ramus in combination with a subcondylar fracture. The spine of this young woman also exhibits a probable traumatic injury of the cervical spine in combination with a slowly growing structure situated inside the spinal canal, which caused deformation centered upon C7. The cervical and thoracic spine together with internal surfaces of several ribs exhibit infectious changes of advanced stage, in all likelihood of tuberculous origin, but osteomyelitis cannot be excluded. Histological analysis of the new bone formation in the ribs confirmed infectious origin, as does Micro CT of C5 and C6. Analyses conducted by two different departments with different methods (PCR amplification of 123 bp long section from IS6110 and Next Generation shotgun sequencing) failed to identify DNA of Mycobacterium tuberculosis from the first rib.

Detection of mitochondrial haplogroups in a small avar-slavic population from the eigth-ninth century AD.

OBJECTIVES: In the sixth century AD, Avars came to Central Europe from middle Eurasian steppes and founded a strong Empire called the Avar Khagante (568-799/803 AD) in the Pannonian basin. During the existence of this empire, they undertook many military and pugnacious campaigns. In the seventh century, they conquered the northern territory inhabited by Slavs, who were further recruited in Avar military and were commissioned with obtaining food supplies. During almost 200 years of Avar domination, a significant influence by the Avar culture (especially on the burial rite) and assimilation with indigenous population (occurrence of "East Asian"cranial features) could be noticed in this mixed area, which is supported by achaeological and anthropologcal research. Therefore we expected higher incidence of east Eurasian haplogroups (introduced by Avars) than the frequencies detected in present-day central European populations. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Mitochondrial DNA from 62 human skeletal remains excavated from the Avar-Slavic burial site Cífer-Pác (Slovakia) dated to the eighth and ninth century was analyzed by the sequencing of hypervariable region I and selected parts of coding region. Obtained haplotypes were compared with other present-day and historical populations and genetic distances were calculated using standard statistical method. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION: In total, the detection of mitochondrial haplogroups was possible in 46 individuals. Our results prooved a higher frequency of east Eurasian haplogroups in our analyzed population (6.52%) than in present-day central European populations. However, it is almost three times lower than the frequency of east Eurasian haplogroups detected in other medieval Avar populations. The statistical analysis showed a greater similarity and the lowest genetic distances between the Avar-Slavic burial site Cifer-Pac and medieval European populations than the South Siberian, East and Central Asian populations. CONCLUSION: Our results indicate that the transfer of Avar genetic variation through their mtDNA was rather weak in the analyzed mixed population.

Estimation of stature using hand and foot dimensions in Slovak adults.

Hand and foot dimensions used for stature estimation help to formulate a biological profile in the process of personal identification. Morphological variability of hands and feet shows the importance of generating population-specific equations to estimate stature. The stature, hand length, hand breadth, foot length and foot breadth of 250 young Slovak males and females, aged 18-24 years, were measured according to standard anthropometric procedures. The data were statistically analyzed using independent t-test for sex and bilateral differences. Pearson correlation coefficient was used for assessing relationship between stature and hand/foot parameters, and subsequently linear regression analysis was used to estimate stature. The results revealed significant sex differences in hand and foot dimensions as well as in stature (p<0.05). There was a positive and statistically significant correlation between stature and all measurements in both sexes (p<0.01). The highest correlation coefficient was found for foot length in males (r=0.71) as well as in females (r=0.63). Regression equations were computed separately for each sex. The accuracy of stature prediction ranged from ±4.6 to ±6.1cm. The results of this study indicate that hand and foot dimension can be used to estimate stature for Slovak for the purpose of forensic field. The regression equations can be of use for stature estimation particularly in cases of dismembered bodies.