Inhibition and disaggregation effect of flavonoid-derived carbonized polymer dots on protein amyloid aggregation.

In this research, four water-insoluble flavonoid compounds were utilized and reacted with arginine to prepare four carbonized polymer dots with good water-solubility in a hydrothermal reactor. Structural characterization demonstrated that the prepared carbonized polymer dots were classic core-shell structure. Effect of the prepared carbonized polymer dots on protein amyloid aggregation was further investigated using hen egg white lysozyme and human lysozyme as model protein in aqueous solution. All of the prepared carbonized polymer dots could retard the amyloid aggregation of hen egg white lysozyme and human lysozyme in a dose-depended manner. All measurements displayed that the inhibition ratio of luteolin-derived carbonized polymer dots (CPDs-1) was higher than that of the other three carbonized polymer dots under the same dosage. This result may be interpreted by the highest content of phenolic hydroxyl groups on the periphery. The inhibition ratio of CPDs-1 on hen egg white lysozyme and human lysozyme reached 88 % and 83 % at the concentration of 0.5 mg/mL, respectively. CPDs-1 also could disaggregate the formed mature amyloid fibrils into short aggregates.

Dissimilar effects of the hydrophilic carbon dots on the amyloid aggregation of two model proteins and the mechanism discussion.

Many proteins could aggregate into amyloid fibrils under certain conditions. However, the aggregation process and morphology of the fibrils may be significantly different because of the distinct protein structure. In this article, the hydrophilic carbon dots (Lys-CA-CDs) were prepared using lysine (Lys) and citric acid (CA) as reactant under the assistance of a microwave. The dissimilar modulation effect of Lys-CA-CDs on the aggregation process of distinct structure protein was further investigated, where bovine serum albumin (BSA) and hen egg white lysozyme (HEWL) were chosen as model proteins. All results showed that Lys-CA-CDs displayed the contrary influence on the aggregation process of BSA and HEWL. Lys-CA-CDs could induce BSA to aggregate into more wormlike fibrils and inhibit the aggregation of HEWL into hair-like fibrils. The influence on the aggregation process of BSA may be assigned to the increased concentration of BSA around the Lys-CA-CDs caused by their interaction. However, inserting of Lys-CA-CDs into the inner structure of HEWL led to the change of protein secondary structure. The change of secondary structure further made it difficult for HEWL to aggregate into fibrils and Lys-CA-CDs showed the inhibition effect on HEWL aggregation.

Social functioning characteristics of children with co occurrence of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and oppositional defiant disorder / 中国学校卫生

Objective@#To explore the social functioning characteristics of children with co ocurrence of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and oppositional defiant disorder (ODD) for intervention reference.@*Methods@#The Chinese Version of Swanson Nolan and Pelham, Version IV Scale-Parent Form(SNAP-IV), the Chinese Version of Weiss Functional Impairment Scale-Parent(WFIRS-P), and the Questionnaire-Children with Difficulties (QCD) were applied to 192 children with ADHD, 243 children with co occurrence of ADHD and ODD, who firstly visited the Department of Children Psychological Health of Zhuhai Maternal and Child Health Care Hospital, and 118 healthy control children from a school in Zhuhai.@*Results@#The scores of attention deficit factor in SNAP-Ⅳ scale of children in three groups were[1.9(1.7, 2.1), 1.8(1.6, 1.9), 1.0(0.6, 1.2)], the scores of hyperactive impulsivity were[1.8(1.4, 2.1), 1.6(1.1, 1.8), 0.7(0.2, 1.0)] the scores of oppositional defiant were[1.6(1.5, 1.9), 1.0(0.8,1.1), 0.8(0.5, 1.0)], the differences were statistically significant( H=268.44, 237.97, 418.66, P <0.01). The dimensions and total scores of the three groups of children s WFIRS-P scale were family[0.8(0.6, 1.1), 0.6(0.3, 0.8), 0.3(0.1, 0.6)]; learning and school[0.8(0.5, 1.1), 0.8(0.5, 1.0), 0.3(0.1, 0.5)]; life skills[1.0(0.7, 1.2), 0.8(0.6, 1.0), 0.6(0.4, 0.8)]; self management [1.0(0.3, 1.0), 0.7(0.3, 1.0), 0.3(0.0, 0.7)]; social activities [0.7(0.4, 1.0), 0.6(0.3, 0.9), 0.3(0.0, 0.4 )]; adventure activities[0.3(0.2, 0.5), 0.2(0.1, 0.4), 0.1(0.0, 0.2)]; the total score[0.8(0.6, 1.0), 0.6(0.5, 0.8), 0.4( 0.2 , 0.6)], the difference between the groups was statistically significant( H=108.82, 122.45, 60.17, 40.58, 96.17, 76.57, 138.30, P <0.01). The difference between the QCD scale scores of children in the three groups was statistically significant[30.0( 24.0 , 37.0), 32.0(27.0, 40.0), 47.0(37.0, 52.3), H=124.65, P <0.01). Multiple regression analysis showed that attention deficit, and oppositional defiant symptoms were associated with both the total WFIRS-P score and the QCD score of children( R 2= 0.40 , 0.25, P <0.05).@*Conclusion@#Children with co occurrence of ADHD and ODD have more severe deficits in all dimensions of social functioning than children with ADHD, which might be associated with attention deficit and oppositional defiant symptoms.

Case-control study of vitamin B12 and metabolite MMA and transporter TCN2 in children with ASD / 中国学校卫生

Objective@#To investigate the level of vitamin B12 in children with autism spectrum disorder(ASD), and provide a theoretical basis for early detection and drug treatment of ASD.@*Methods@#A total of 89 ASD cases and 89 matched controls were collected. The levels of urinary methylmalonic acid (MMA) and serum vitamin B12, Transcobalamin Ⅱ (TCN2) were determined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). TCN2 gene rs1801198 was genotyped by SNaPshot.@*Results@#The serum levels of vitamin B12 and TCN2 in children with ASD [(369.08±131.88)pmol/L, (1.56±0.16)ng/mL] were significantly lower than those in the control group[(485.16±200.33)pmol/L, (1.71±0.17)ng/mL](t=-5.47, -5.92, P<0.05). The level of MMA in urine of ASD children [(758.97±106.96) ng/mL] was significantly higher than that in the control group[(693.66±121.72)ng/mL](t=3.94, P<0.05); The genetic polymorphism of rs1801198 locus was not associated with the risk of ASD(P>0.05), and there was no significant correlation with serum TCN2 level(F=1.16, P>0.05).@*Conclusion@#ASD children are at a potential deficiency of vitamin B12 and should strengthen their nutritional interventions while conducting ASD interventions.

Case-control study on temperament characteristics of children with autism spectrum disorders aged 3-7 years old in Harbin / 中国学校卫生

Objective@#To explore the differences of temperament characteristics between children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and normal children, and to provide evidence for early detection of ASD children and the development of personalized treatment plans.@*Methods@#In this case-control study, we enrolled 129 ASD children and 129 normal children aged 3-7 years. The Behavioral Style Questionnaire (BSQ) scale was used to assess the temperament.@*Results@#ASD children got higher scores in terms of "activity level", "withdrawal", "adaptability", "emotional nature", "persistence", and "response threshold" temperament dimensionality scores(P<0.05), and lower scores in terms of "rhythmical", "response intensity" temperament dimensionality scores than normal children(P<0.05). However, there was no significant difference in "attention dispersiveness" between ASD group and control group(P>0.05). Among the children in the ASD and control group, the proportion of each temperament type was "easy to raise temperament type" (41.8% vs 62.8%), "partially easy to raise temperament type" (31.8% vs 27.9%), "partially difficult to raise temperament type" (17.1% vs 6.2%), “slow-up-towarm temperament type" (7.7% vs 2.3%) and "difficult to raise temperament type" (1.6% vs 0.8%).Statistical analysis showed that the rate of "easy to raise temperament type" was lower than that in normal children(P<0.05), while the rates of "partially easy to raise temperament type", "partially difficult to raise temperament type", "difficult to raise temperament type", and "slow-up-to-warm temperament type" in ASD children were higher(P<0.05).@*Conclusion@#There was significant difference in temperament characteristics between ASD children and normal children. The evaluation of temperament type contributes to early detection of ASD children and provides a reference for their behavioral correction.