Dissection of Metabolome and Transcriptome-Insights into Capsaicin and Flavonoid Accumulation in Two Typical Yunnan Xiaomila Fruits.

Pepper is an economically important vegetable worldwide, containing various specialized metabolites crucial for its development and flavor. Capsaicinoids, especially, are genus-specialized metabolites that confer a spicy flavor to Capsicum fruits. In this work, two pepper cultivars, YB (Capsicum frutescens L.) and JC (Capsicum baccatum L.) pepper, showed distinct differences in the accumulation of capsaicin and flavonoid. However, the molecular mechanism underlying them was still unclear. Metabolome analysis showed that the JC pepper induced a more abundant accumulation of metabolites associated with alkaloids, flavonoids, and capsaicinoids in the red ripening stages, leading to a spicier flavor in the JC pepper. Transcriptome analysis confirmed that the increased expression of transcripts associated with phenylpropanoid and flavonoid metabolic pathways occurred in the JC pepper. Integrative analysis of metabolome and transcriptome suggested that four structural genes, 4CL7, 4CL6, CHS, and COMT, were responsible for the higher accumulation of metabolites relevant to capsaicin and flavonoids. Through weighted gene co-expression network analyses, modules related to flavonoid biosynthesis and potential regulators for candidate genes were identified. The promoter analysis of four candidate genes showed they contained several cis-elements that were bonded to MYB, bZIP, and WRKY transcription factors. Further RT-qPCR examination verified three transcription factors, MYB, bZIP53, and WRKY25, that exhibited increased expression in the red ripening stage of the JC pepper compared to YB, which potentially regulated their expression. Altogether, our findings provide comprehensive understanding and valuable information for pepper breeding programs in the future.

CDCA8 as an independent predictor for a poor prognosis in liver cancer.

BACKGROUND: Human cell division cycle associated 8 (CDCA8) a key regulator of mitosis, has been described as a potential prognostic biomarker for a variety of cancers, such as breast, colon and lung cancers. We aimed to evaluate the potential role of CDCA8 expression in the prognosis of liver cancer by analysing data from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA). METHODS: The Wilcoxon rank-sum test was used to compare the difference in CDCA8 expression between liver cancer tissues and matched normal tissues. Then, we applied logistic regression and the Wilcoxon rank-sum test to identify the association between CDCA8 expression and clinicopathologic characteristics. Cox regression and the Kaplan-Meier method were used to examine the clinicopathologic features correlated with overall survival (OS) in patients from the TCGA. Gene set enrichment analysis (GSEA) was performed to explore possible mechanisms of CDCA8 according to the TCGA dataset. RESULTS: CDCA8 expression was higher in liver cancer tissues than in matched normal tissues. Logistic regression and the Wilcoxon rank-sum test revealed that the increased level of CDCA8 expression in liver cancer tissues was notably related to T stage (OR = 1.64 for T1/2 vs. T3/4), clinical stage (OR = 1.66 for I/II vs. III/IV), histologic grade (OR = 6.71 for G1 vs. G4) and histological type (OR = 0.24 for cholangiocarcinoma [CHOL] vs. hepatocellular carcinoma [LIHC]) (all P-values < 0.05). Kaplan-Meier survival analysis indicated that high CDCA8 expression was related to a poor prognosis in liver cancer (P = 2.456 × 10-6). Univariate analysis showed that high CDCA8 expression was associated with poor OS in liver cancer patients, with a hazard ratio (HR) of 1.85 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.47-2.32; P = 1.16 × 10-7). Multivariate analysis showed that CDCA8 expression was independently correlated with OS (HR = 1.74; CI: 1.25-12.64; P = 1.27 × 10-5). GSEA revealed that the apoptosis, cell cycle, ErbB, MAPK, mTOR, Notch, p53 and TGF-ß signaling pathways were differentially enriched in the CDCA8 high expression phenotype. CONCLUSIONS: High CDCA8 expression is a potential molecular predictor of a poor prognosis in liver cancer.

Correction to: ATF5 involved in radioresistance in nasopharyngeal carcinoma by promoting epithelial-to-mesenchymal phenotype transition.

The article ATF5 involved in radioresistance in nasopharyngeal carcinoma by promoting epithelial-to-mesenchymal phenotype transition, written by Yu Shuai, Erxi Fan, Qiuyue Zhong, Guangyong Feng, Qiying Chen, Xiaoxia Gou, Guihai Zhang, was originally published.

ATF5 involved in radioresistance in nasopharyngeal carcinoma by promoting epithelial-to-mesenchymal phenotype transition.

PURPOSE: This study aimed to investigate the effects of activating transcription factor-5 (ATF5) on nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) cell radioresistance. METHODS: HONE-1 nasopharyngeal carcinoma cells were irradiated by conventional fractionation to generate HONE-1R radiotherapy-resistant cells. Short hairpin RNA (shRNA) expression plasmids targeting the ATF5 gene were constructed and transfected into the HONE-1R cell line. The proliferation assay, colony formation analysis, Transwell Boyden chamber assay and other experimental methods were performed to verify changes in the radiosensitivity and other biological of NPC cells. RESULTS: X-ray irradiation significantly promoted the upregulation of ATF5 protein levels in HONE-1 cells, and the protein expression of ATF5 increased with the dose of X-ray irradiation (p < 0.05). The colony formation rate, cell survival rate and migration ability of HONE-1R cells were significantly higher than those of HONE-1 cells (p < 0.05). Simultaneously, X-ray could also promote the morphology of epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) in HONE-1 cells, inducing a lower expression level of E-cadherin and a higher expression level of N-cadherin in a dose-dependent manner (p < 0.05). Inhibiting ATF5 significantly reduced the colony formation rate, cell survival rate, migration and invasiveness of HONE-1R cells (p < 0.05). Moreover, sensitizing HONE-1R cells to X-ray irradiation significantly upregulated the expression of E-cadherin and downregulated the expression of N-cadherin in these cells (p < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: ATF5 may be a potential therapeutic target to improve radiosensitivity in NPC.

Five genes as a novel signature for predicting the prognosis of patients with laryngeal cancer.

In this study, we purpose to investigate a novel five-gene signature for predicting the prognosis of patients with laryngeal cancer. The laryngeal cancer datasets were obtained from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA). Both univariate and multivariate Cox regression analysis was applied to screening for prognostic differential expressed genes (DEGs), and a novel gene signature was obtained. The performance of this Cox regression model was tested by receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves and area under the curve (AUC). Further survival analysis for each of the five genes was carried out through the Kaplan-Meier curve and Log-rank test. Totally, 622 DEGs were screened from the TCGA datasets in this study. We construct a five-gene signature through Cox survival analysis. Patients were divided into low- and high-risk groups depending on the median risk score, and a significant difference of the 5-year overall survival was found between these two groups (P < .05). ROC curves verified that this five-gene signature had good performance to predict the prognosis of laryngeal cancer (AUC = 0.862, P < .05). In conclusion, the five-gene signature consist of EMP1, HOXB9, DPY19L2P1, MMP1, and KLHDC7B might be applied as an independent prognosis predictor of laryngeal cancer.

A gene expression-based study on immune cell subtypes and glioma prognosis.

OBJECT: Glioma is a common malignant tumours in the central nervous system (CNS), that exhibits high morbidity, a low cure rate, and a high recurrence rate. Currently, immune cells are increasingly known to play roles in the suppression of tumourigenesis, progression and tumour growth in many tumours. Therefore, given this increasing evidence, we explored the levels of some immune cell genes for predicting the prognosis of patients with glioma. METHODS: We extracted glioma data from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA). Using the Cell-type Identification by Estimating Relative Subsets of RNA Transcripts (CIBERSORT) algorithm, the relative proportions of 22 types of infiltrating immune cells were determined. In addition, the relationships between the scales of some immune cells and sex/age were also calculated by a series of analyses. A P-value was derived for the deconvolution of each sample, providing credibility for the data analysis (P < 0.05). All analyses were conducted using R version 3.5.2. Five-year overall survival (OS) also showed the effectiveness and prognostic value of each proportion of immune cells in glioma; a bar plot, correlation-based heatmap (corheatmap), and heatmap were used to represent the proportions of immune cells in each glioma sample. RESULTS: In total, 703 transcriptomes from a clinical dataset of glioma patients were drawn from the TCGA database. The relative proportions of 22 types of infiltrating immune cells are presented in a bar plot and heatmap. In addition, we identified the levels of immune cells related to prognosis in patients with glioma. Activated dendritic cells (DCs), eosinophils, activated mast cells, monocytes and activated natural killer (NK) cells were positively related to prognosis in the patients with glioma; however, resting NK cells, CD8+ T cells, T follicular helper cells, gamma delta T cells and M0 macrophages were negatively related to prognosis in the patients with glioma. Specifically, the proportions of several immune cells were significantly related to patient age and sex. Furthermore, the level of M0 macrophages was significant in regard to interactions with other immune cells, including monocytes and gamma delta T cells, in glioma tissues through sample data analysis. CONCLUSION: We performed a novel gene expression-based study of the levels of immune cell subtypes and prognosis in glioma, which has potential clinical prognostic value for patients with glioma.

Blockade of IL-27 signaling ameliorates herpes stromal keratitis with upregulated CD4+ Foxp3+ regulatory T cells influx in mice.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to investigate the production of IL-27 p28 and EBI3 in the ocular inflammatory sites, and the role of IL-27 signaling in a model of HSV-1 induced herpetic stromal keratitis (HSK). Methods: The BALB/c mice were injected intraperitoneally (24 h before infection) with anti-IL-27 antibody or IgG antibody as control, infected with HSV-1 via corneal scarification, and then injected intraperitoneally with anti-IL-27 antibody or IgG antibody at 1, 3, and 5 days postinfection. Slit lamp and histopathology were used to assess disease outcome. The levels of IL-27 p28 and EBI3 in corneas were determined by western blotting and immunofluorescence. Furthermore, viral titers were determined, and immune cell infiltrates were collected and analyzed by flow cytometry. Results: We found that the levels of IL-27 p28 and EBI3 in corneas were elevated significantly at the peak of HSK, and both of them were expressed simultaneously in the epithelium, stroma, and endothelium of corneas. In the group of anti-IL-27 treatment, the severity of the corneal lesion and CD4+ T cells infiltration were significantly decreased, and the percentage of CD4+ Foxp3+ Tregs was upregulated markedly in the spleen, DLNs and cornea of HSK mice compared to IgG treatment. Conclusion: These results provided evidence that IL-27 as a pathogenic pro-inflammatory cytokine controlled CD4+ Foxp3+ Tregs production in HSK, which ultimately resulted in promoting the progression of HSK and poor prognosis.

Identification and potential mechanisms of a 4-lncRNA signature that predicts prognosis in patients with laryngeal cancer.

PURPOSE: This study aimed to describe the use of a novel 4-lncRNA signature to predict prognosis in patients with laryngeal cancer and to explore its possible mechanisms. METHODS: We identified lncRNAs that were differentially expressed between 111 tumor tissue samples and 12 matched normal tissue samples from The Cancer Genome Atlas Database (TCGA). We used Cox regression analysis to identify lncRNAs that were correlated with prognosis. A 4-lncRNA signature was developed to predict the prognosis of patients with laryngeal cancer. The receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves and area under the curve (AUC) were used to verify the validity of this Cox regression model, and an independent prognosis analysis was used to confirm that the 4-lncRNA signature was an independent prognostic factor. Furthermore, the function of these lncRNAs was inferred using related gene prediction and Gene ontology (GO) enrichment analysis in order to clarify the possible mechanisms underlying their predictive ability. RESULTS: In total, 214 differentially expressed lncRNAs were identified, and a 4-lncRNA signature was constructed using Cox survival analysis. The risk coefficients in the multivariate Cox analysis revealed that LINC02154 and MNX1-AS1 are risk factors for laryngeal cancer, whereas MYHAS and LINC01281 appear to be protective factors. The results of a functional annotation analysis suggested that the mechanisms by which these lncRNAs influence prognosis in laryngeal cancer may involve the extracellular exosome, the Notch signaling pathway, voltage-gated calcium channels, and the Wnt signaling pathway. CONCLUSION: We identified a novel 4-lncRNA signature that can predict the prognosis of patients with laryngeal cancer and that may influence the prognosis of laryngeal cancer by regulating immunity, tumor apoptosis, metastasis, invasion, and other characteristics through the Notch signaling pathway, voltage-gated calcium channels, and the Wnt signaling pathway.

Associations of antepartum suicidal behaviour with adverse infant and obstetric outcomes.

BACKGROUND: Relatively little is known about antepartum suicidal behaviour and pregnancy outcomes. We examined associations of antepartum suicidal behaviour, alone and in combination with psychiatric disorders, with adverse infant and obstetric outcomes. METHODS: We included 188 925 singleton livebirths from a retrospective cohort (1996-2016). Suicidal behaviour, psychiatric disorders, and outcomes were derived from electronic medical records. We performed multivariable logistic regressions with generalised estimating equations to estimate adjusted odds ratios (aOR) with 95% confidence intervals (95%CI). RESULTS: The prevalence of antepartum suicidal behaviour was 152.44 per 100 000 singleton livebirths. Nearly two-thirds (64.24%) of women with suicidal behaviour also had psychiatric disorders. Compared to women without psychiatric disorders and suicidal behaviour, women with psychiatric disorders alone had 1.3-fold to 1.4-fold increased odds of delivering low birthweight or preterm infants and 1.2-fold increased odds of experiencing obstetric complications. Women with suicidal behaviour alone had increased odds of preterm labour (aOR 2.05, 95% CI 1.16, 3.62). Women with both suicidal behaviour and psychiatric disorders had > twofold increased odds of delivering low birthweight (aOR 2.52, 95% CI 1.40, 4.54), preterm birth (aOR 2.44, 95% CI 1.63, 3.66), and low birthweight/preterm birth (aOR 2.30, 95% CI 1.54, 3.44) infants; the odds of preterm labour (aOR 1.62, 95% CI 1.06, 2.47), placental abruption (aOR 2.33, 95% CI 1.20, 4.51), preterm rupture of membranes (aOR 1.63, 95% CI 1.08, 2.46), and postpartum haemorrhage (aOR 1.93, 95%CI 1.09, 3.40) were elevated. CONCLUSIONS: Antepartum suicidal behaviour, when co-occurring with psychiatric disorders, is associated with increased odds of adverse infant and obstetric outcomes. Future studies are warranted to understand the causal roles of suicidal behaviour and psychiatric disorders in pregnancy.

Use of natural language processing in electronic medical records to identify pregnant women with suicidal behavior: towards a solution to the complex classification problem.

We developed algorithms to identify pregnant women with suicidal behavior using information extracted from clinical notes by natural language processing (NLP) in electronic medical records. Using both codified data and NLP applied to unstructured clinical notes, we first screened pregnant women in Partners HealthCare for suicidal behavior. Psychiatrists manually reviewed clinical charts to identify relevant features for suicidal behavior and to obtain gold-standard labels. Using the adaptive elastic net, we developed algorithms to classify suicidal behavior. We then validated algorithms in an independent validation dataset. From 275,843 women with codes related to pregnancy or delivery, 9331 women screened positive for suicidal behavior by either codified data (N = 196) or NLP (N = 9,145). Using expert-curated features, our algorithm achieved an area under the curve of 0.83. By setting a positive predictive value comparable to that of diagnostic codes related to suicidal behavior (0.71), we obtained a sensitivity of 0.34, specificity of 0.96, and negative predictive value of 0.83. The algorithm identified 1423 pregnant women with suicidal behavior among 9331 women screened positive. Mining unstructured clinical notes using NLP resulted in a 11-fold increase in the number of pregnant women identified with suicidal behavior, as compared to solely reliance on diagnostic codes.

Suicide risk assessment: examining transitions in suicidal behaviors among pregnant women in Perú.

The goals of this research were to characterize suicidal behavior among a cohort of pregnant Peruvian women and identify risk factors for transitions between behaviors. The World Health Organization Composite International Diagnostic Interview suicide questionnaire was employed to assess suicidal behavior. Discrete-time survival analysis was used to study the cumulative age-of-onset distribution. The hazard function was calculated to assess the risk of onset of each suicidal behavior. Among 2062 participants, suicidal behaviors were endorsed by 22.6% of participants; 22.4% reported a lifetime history of suicidal ideation, 7.2% reported a history of planning, and 6.0% reported attempting suicide. Childhood abuse was most strongly associated with suicidal behavior, accounting for a 2.57-fold increased odds of suicidal ideation, nearly 3-fold increased odds of suicide planning, and 2.43-fold increased odds of suicide attempt. This study identified the highest prevalence of suicidal behavior in a population of pregnant women outside the USA. Diverse populations of pregnant women and their patterns of suicidal behavior transition must be further studied. The association between trauma and suicidal behavior indicates the importance of trauma-informed care for pregnant women.

Construct validity and factor structure of a Spanish-language Social Support Questionnaire during early pregnancy.

BACKGROUND: The Social Support Questionnaire - Short Form (SSQ-6) is a widely used instrument that assesses availability and satisfaction of a person's social support. The present study aimed to evaluate the construct validity and factor structure of the Spanish language version of the SSQ-6 during early pregnancy. PARTICIPANTS AND METHODS: A total of 4,236 pregnant Peruvian women were interviewed at 10.3 ± 3.8 weeks of gestation. In-person interviewers were used to collect lifestyle, demographic, and social support characteristics. The construct validity and factorial structure of the SSQ-6 were assessed through exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). The internal consistency was evaluated using Cronbach's alpha. RESULTS: The mean SSQ-6 score was 39.6 ± 6.8 and Cronbach's alpha was 0.83. EFA resulted in a three-factor solution that accounted for 60.6% of the variance. CFA results confirmed the three-factor structure and yielded measures indicating goodness of fit (comparative fit index of 0.9401) and accuracy (root mean square error of approximation of 0.0394). CONCLUSION: Although the SSQ-6 was originally developed as a two-factor model, and previous studies have supported this, in our study a three-factor model was found to be more appropriate. The SSQ-6 was found to have good construct validity and reliability for assessing social support.

Adverse obstetric and neonatal outcomes complicated by psychosis among pregnant women in the United States.

BACKGROUND: Adverse obstetric and neonatal outcomes among women with psychosis, particularly affective psychosis, has rarely been studied at the population level. We aimed to assess the risk of adverse obstetric and neonatal outcomes among women with psychosis (schizophrenia, affective psychosis, and other psychoses). METHODS: From the 2007 - 2012 National (Nationwide) Inpatient Sample, 23,507,597 delivery hospitalizations were identified. From the same hospitalization, International Classification of Diseases diagnosis codes were used to identify maternal psychosis and outcomes. Adjusted odds ratios (aOR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) were obtained using logistic regression. RESULTS: The prevalence of psychosis at delivery was 698.76 per 100,000 hospitalizations. After adjusting for sociodemographic characteristics, smoking, alcohol/substance abuse, and pregnancy-related hypertension, women with psychosis were at a heightened risk for cesarean delivery (aOR = 1.26; 95% CI: 1.23 - 1.29), induced labor (aOR = 1.05; 95% CI: 1.02 - 1.09), antepartum hemorrhage (aOR = 1.22; 95% CI: 1.14 - 1.31), placental abruption (aOR = 1.22; 95% CI: 1.13 - 1.32), postpartum hemorrhage (aOR = 1.18; 95% CI: 1.10 - 1.27), premature delivery (aOR = 1.40; 95% CI: 1.36 - 1.46), stillbirth (aOR = 1.37; 95% CI: 1.23 - 1.53), premature rupture of membranes (aOR = 1.22; 95% CI: 1.15 - 1.29), fetal abnormalities (aOR = 1.49; 95% CI: 1.38 - 1.61), poor fetal growth (aOR = 1.26; 95% CI: 1.19 - 1.34), and fetal distress (aOR = 1.14; 95% CI: 1.10 - 1.18). Maternal death during hospitalizations (aOR = 1.00; 95% CI: 0.30 - 3.31) and excessive fetal growth (aOR = 1.06; 95% CI: 0.98 - 1.14) were not statistically significantly associated with psychosis. CONCLUSIONS: Pregnant women with psychosis have elevated risk of several adverse obstetric and neonatal outcomes. Efforts to identify and manage pregnancies complicated by psychosis may contribute to improved outcomes.

Screening pregnant women for suicidal behavior in electronic medical records: diagnostic codes vs. clinical notes processed by natural language processing.

BACKGROUND: We examined the comparative performance of structured, diagnostic codes vs. natural language processing (NLP) of unstructured text for screening suicidal behavior among pregnant women in electronic medical records (EMRs). METHODS: Women aged 10-64 years with at least one diagnostic code related to pregnancy or delivery (N = 275,843) from Partners HealthCare were included as our "datamart." Diagnostic codes related to suicidal behavior were applied to the datamart to screen women for suicidal behavior. Among women without any diagnostic codes related to suicidal behavior (n = 273,410), 5880 women were randomly sampled, of whom 1120 had at least one mention of terms related to suicidal behavior in clinical notes. NLP was then used to process clinical notes for the 1120 women. Chart reviews were performed for subsamples of women. RESULTS: Using diagnostic codes, 196 pregnant women were screened positive for suicidal behavior, among whom 149 (76%) had confirmed suicidal behavior by chart review. Using NLP among those without diagnostic codes, 486 pregnant women were screened positive for suicidal behavior, among whom 146 (30%) had confirmed suicidal behavior by chart review. CONCLUSIONS: The use of NLP substantially improves the sensitivity of screening suicidal behavior in EMRs. However, the prevalence of confirmed suicidal behavior was lower among women who did not have diagnostic codes for suicidal behavior but screened positive by NLP. NLP should be used together with diagnostic codes for future EMR-based phenotyping studies for suicidal behavior.

Improved timely birth dose coverage of hepatitis B vaccine narrows the socio-economic inequality in western China in 2011-2016.

OBJECTIVE: To compare timely birth dose (TBD) coverage of hepatitis B vaccine and socio-economic inequality distribution of TBD coverage between 2011 and 2016 in rural areas of western China. METHODS: In western China, using multi-stage probability proportion to size sampling, 2633 and 1929 children aged 0-35 months with an immunization card were selected from 14 rural counties in 2011 and 2016, respectively. Socio-economic characteristics were obtained from face-to-face questionnaire survey and copies of vaccination certificates. We performed multivariate logistic regression models to identify the determinants of TBD coverage of hepatitis B vaccine. We grouped TBD coverage by wealth quintiles, calculated inequality using the difference base on coverage in richest (quintile 5) and poorest (quintile 1) household wealth quintiles. FINDINGS: From 2011 to 2016, the overall TBD coverage of hepatitis B vaccine among children aged 0-35 months in rural areas of western China increased from 52.8% (95% confidence interval, CI: 42.4-62.8) to 80.2% (95% CI: 69.5-87.8). The absolute difference in TBD coverage between richest and poorest quintiles was 20.6 (95%CI: 9.4-31.8) and 15.8 (95%CI: 1.4-30.2) in 2011 and 2016, respectively. CONCLUSION: The socioeconomic inequality in TBD coverage decreased over the study period, but such inequality still existed in 2016. To improve inequality in TBD, the government should pay more attention to the disadvantaged groups, especially the children who were delivered at home, or whose caregivers were ethnic minority or who have a lower level of education.

Causal Model of the Association of Social Support With Antepartum Depression: A Marginal Structural Modeling Approach.

We used marginal structural models to evaluate associations of social support with antepartum depression in late pregnancy, if everyone had had high social support both before pregnancy and during early pregnancy, compared with having low social support at one of the 2 time points or low social support at both time points. In 2012-2014, pregnant Peruvian women (n = 3,336) were recruited into a prospective cohort study (at a mean gestational age of 9 weeks). A follow-up interview (n = 2,279) was conducted (at 26-28 weeks of gestation). Number of available support providers and satisfaction with social support were measured using Sarason Social Support Questionnaire-6. Depression was measured using the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale. Low number of support providers at both time points was associated with increased risk of depression (odds ratio = 1.62, 95% confidence interval: 1.12, 2.34). The association for low satisfaction at both time points was marginally significant (odds ratio = 1.41, 95% confidence interval: 0.99, 1.99). Depression risk was not significantly higher for women who reported high social support at one of the 2 time points. Our study reinforces the importance of assessing social support before and during pregnancy and underscores the need for future interventions targeted at increasing the number of support providers to prevent antepartum depression.

The psychometric properties of the 16-item version of the Prodromal Questionnaire (PQ-16) as a screening instrument for perinatal psychosis.

Psychiatric illness can pose serious risks to pregnant and postpartum women and their infants. There is a need for screening tools that can identify women at risk for postpartum psychosis, the most dangerous perinatal psychiatric illness. This study used exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and Rasch item response theory (IRT) models to evaluate the psychometric properties and construct validity of the Spanish language version of the 16-item Prodromal Questionnaire (PQ-16) as a screening tool for psychosis in a population of pregnant Peruvian women. The EFA yielded a four-factor model, which accounted for 44% of the variance. Factor 1, representing "unstable sense of self," accounted for 22.1% of the total variance; factor 2, representing "ideas of reference/paranoia," for 8.4%; factor 3, representing "sensitivity to sensory experiences," accounted for 7.2%; and factor 4, possibly representing negative symptoms, accounted for 6.3%. Rasch IRT analysis found that all of the items fit the model. These findings support the construct validity of the PQ-16 in this pregnant Peruvian population. Also, further research is needed to establish definitive psychiatric diagnoses to determine the predictive power of the PQ-16 as a screening tool.

Adverse obstetric outcomes during delivery hospitalizations complicated by suicidal behavior among US pregnant women.

OBJECTIVE: The effects of suicidal behavior on obstetric outcomes remain dangerously unquantified. We sought to report on the risk of adverse obstetric outcomes for US women with suicidal behavior at the time of delivery. METHODS: We performed a cross-sectional analysis of delivery hospitalizations from 2007-2012 National (Nationwide) Inpatient Sample. From the same hospitalization record, International Classification of Diseases codes were used to identify suicidal behavior and adverse obstetric outcomes. Adjusted odds ratios (aOR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) were obtained using logistic regression. RESULTS: Of the 23,507,597 delivery hospitalizations, 2,180 were complicated by suicidal behavior. Women with suicidal behavior were at a heightened risk for outcomes including antepartum hemorrhage (aOR = 2.34; 95% CI: 1.47-3.74), placental abruption (aOR = 2.07; 95% CI: 1.17-3.66), postpartum hemorrhage (aOR = 2.33; 95% CI: 1.61-3.37), premature delivery (aOR = 3.08; 95% CI: 2.43-3.90), stillbirth (aOR = 10.73; 95% CI: 7.41-15.56), poor fetal growth (aOR = 1.70; 95% CI: 1.10-2.62), and fetal anomalies (aOR = 3.72; 95% CI: 2.57-5.40). No significant association was observed for maternal suicidal behavior with cesarean delivery, induction of labor, premature rupture of membranes, excessive fetal growth, and fetal distress. The mean length of stay was longer for women with suicidal behavior. CONCLUSION: During delivery hospitalization, women with suicidal behavior are at increased risk for many adverse obstetric outcomes, highlighting the importance of screening for and providing appropriate clinical care for women with suicidal behavior during pregnancy.

Efficacy of alemtuzumab and natalizumab in the treatment of different stages of multiple sclerosis patients.

BACKGROUND: Multiple sclerosis (MS) is an autoimmune disease, in which the insulating covers of nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord are demyelinated. This study was conducted to compare the efficacy of alemtuzumab and natalizumab in the treatment of different stages of MS patients. METHODS: A total of 585 patients diagnosed with MS and hospitalized were included and analyzed after which they were divided into the primary progressive MS A and B groups, the relapsing-remitting MS (RRMS) C and D groups, and the secondary progressive MS E and F groups. Patients in A, C, and E groups were administered alemtuzumab while those in B, D, and F groups were administered natalizumab for the treatment. The expanded disability status scale (EDSS) scores and the EDSS difference were calculated before and after treatment. The number of head magnetic resonance imaging enhanced lesions in the patients, recurrence time and recurrence rate were measured before and after treatment. RESULTS: The EDSS score of the RRMS group was significantly lower than that of the primary progressive MS group and the secondary progressive MS group. After 12 months of treatment, the EDSS score of RRMS patients treated with natalizumab was significantly lower compared with the patients with alemtuzumab, and the difference before and after treatment was significantly higher than alemtuzumab. The recurrence rate of the RRMS-D group was significantly lower than the RRMS-C group. After 12 months of treatment, compared with the RRMS-C group, a significant reduction was observed in the number of head magnetic resonance imaging enhanced lesions and longer recurrence time in the RRMS-D group. CONCLUSION: The efficacy of natalizumab was better than alemtuzumab in the treatment of patients in the RRMS group, while there was no significant difference among other stages of MS patients, which provided the theoretical basis and clinical guidance for the treatment of different stages of MS.

Trauma exposure and post-traumatic stress disorder in a cohort of pregnant Peruvian women.

Women have a higher prevalence of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) than men, with a peak during the reproductive years. PTSD during pregnancy adversely impacts maternal and infant health outcomes. The objectives of this study were to estimate the prevalence of antepartum PTSD symptoms in a population of pregnant Peruvian women and to examine the impact of number of traumatic events and type of trauma experienced. The Traumatic Events Questionnaire was used to collect data about traumatic exposures. The Post-traumatic Stress Disorder Checklist-Civilian Version (PCL-C) was used to assess PTSD. Multivariable logistic regression procedures were used to estimate adjusted odds ratios (aOR) and 95% confidence intervals (95% CI). Three thousand three hundred seventy-two pregnant women were interviewed. Of the 2920 who reported experiencing one or more traumatic events, 41.8% met criteria for PTSD (PCL-C score ≥ 26). A quarter of participants had experienced four or more traumas, and 60.5% of those women had PTSD. Interpersonal trauma was most strongly associated with PTSD (aOR, 3.20; 95% CI, 2.74-3.74), followed by unspeakable trauma (aOR, 2.87; 95% CI, 2.35-3.50), and structural trauma (aOR, 1.39; 95% CI, 1.15-1.67). These findings indicate the high prevalence of PTSD during pregnancy in the Peruvian population, which is relevant to other countries suffering from terrorism, war, or high rates of violence. This underscores the importance of screening for PTSD in pregnancy.