Lessons Learned from Cross-Systems Approach to COVID-19 Pandemic Response in Juvenile Justice System, Colorado, USA.

The global COVID-19 pandemic illustrates the importance of a close partnership between public health and juvenile justice systems when responding to communicable diseases. Many setting-specific obstacles must be navigated to respond effectively to limit disease transmission and negative health outcomes while maintaining necessary services for youth in confinement facilities. The response requires multidisciplinary expertise and collaboration to address unique considerations. Public health mitigation strategies must balance the risk for disease against the negative effects of restrictions. Key aspects of the COVID-19 response in the juvenile justice system of Colorado, USA, involved establishing robust communication and data reporting infrastructures, building a multidisciplinary response team, adapting existing infection prevention guidelines, and focusing on a whole-person health approach to infection prevention. We examine lessons learned and offer recommendations on pandemic emergency response planning and managing a statewide public health emergency in youth confinement settings that ensure ongoing readiness.

SARS-CoV-2 Seroprevalence Compared with Confirmed COVID-19 Cases among Children, Colorado, USA, May-July 2021.

To compare SARS-CoV-2 antibody seroprevalence among children with seropositive confirmed COVID-19 case counts (case ascertainment by molecular amplification) in Colorado, USA, we conducted a cross-sectional serosurvey during May-July 2021. For a convenience sample of 829 Colorado children, SARS-CoV-2 seroprevalence was 36.7%, compared with prevalence of 6.5% according to individually matched COVID-19 test results reported to public health. Compared with non-Hispanic White children, seroprevalence was higher among Hispanic, non-Hispanic Black, and non-Hispanic other race children, and case ascertainment was significantly lower among Hispanic and non-Hispanic Black children. This serosurvey accurately estimated SARS-CoV-2 prevalence among children compared with confirmed COVID-19 case counts and revealed substantial racial/ethnic disparities in infections and case ascertainment. Continued efforts to address racial and ethnic differences in disease burden and to overcome potential barriers to case ascertainment, including access to testing, may help mitigate these ongoing disparities.

Activity-based anorexia in adolescent female rats causes changes in brain mitochondrial dynamics.

Anorexia Nervosa (AN) is associated with a high rate of morbidity and mortality as well as a high rate of relapse. The molecular mechanisms underlying the progression of the disorder or the relapses are largely unknown. Patients with AN have been shown to have increased oxidative stress, but its involvement in the development in the disease is unknown. We have previously shown that adolescent female rats undergoing the activity-based anorexia (ABA) paradigm also show signs of oxidative stress. Due to their role in the release of reactive oxygen species (ROS), mitochondria are of high interest in diseases exhibiting oxidative stress. In this study, the impact of ABA on brain mitochondrial dynamics was examined. We found transient changes in the medial prefrontal cortex, hypothalamus, and hippocampus following 25% weight loss and changes in the amygdala at a 10-day weight recovery timepoint. These changes point towards damage in the mitochondria contributing to the oxidative stress.

Adolescent female rats recovered from the activity-based anorexia display blunted hedonic responding.

OBJECTIVE: As patients with anorexia nervosa tend to "like" palatable tastants less than controls, we set out to model this preclinically by using the taste reactivity test (TRT) to assess hedonic state in rats following weight restoration from a bout of activity-based anorexia (ABA). METHOD: Female rats (n = 31) were surgically implanted with an intraoral catheter, which allowed experimenters to assess baseline TRT to six tastants. Following baseline TRT, animals were either exposed to the activity-based anorexia condition (ABA; 1.5HR chow/ad lib wheel until 25% weight loss), kept sedentary (SED; ad lib chow/locked wheel), given access to running wheels with ad lib chow access (RW; ad lib chow/wheel), or were body weight matched to the ABA group (BWM; restricted chow/locked wheel). Following 25% weight loss, wheels were locked and food returned to ABA rats. Paired RW groups had their wheels locked and paired BWM rats were given ad lib access to food. Animals were given 10 days to recover prior to a second TRT. Videos were analyzed for liking (tongue protrusions) and disliking (gape) behaviors. RESULTS: The ABA group displayed a significant within-subject reduction in cumulative lick responses to water and 1 M sucrose. Additionally, we found the SED and ABA group displayed a significant within-subject reduction in cumulative lick responses to .1 M sucrose. Positive hedonic responses did not decline in either the BWM or the RW groups. DISCUSSION: The data show a novel phenomenon that a history of ABA results in an anhedonia phenotype that mirrors aspects of AN. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT: Patients recovered from anorexia nervosa report anhedonia, or the lack of pleasure in consuming palatable foods. Unfortunately, the biological mechanism underpinning anhedonia in anorexia nervosa is not well understood. The current study assessed hedonic state in adolescent female rats prior to and 10 days recovered following the activity-based anorexia paradigm. Age-matched, running wheel-matched and body weight-matched control groups were also tested at the same time points.

Activity-based anorexia disrupts systemic oxidative state and induces cortical mitochondrial fission in adolescent female rats.

OBJECTIVE: Patients with Anorexia Nervosa (AN) display increased levels of oxidative stress that correlates with disease severity. Unfortunately, the biological ramifications of AN-induced oxidative stress on the brain are largely unknown. Our lab uses the preclinical activity-based anorexia (ABA) paradigm to model symptoms of AN. The goal of the present study was to determine how ABA experience affects oxidative state and its consequences in adolescent female rats. METHOD: We compared systemic glutathione and cysteine plasma concentrations and medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) mitochondrial fission in ABA animals at maximum weight loss or following 10-days of weight recovery to levels in age-matched sedentary (SED) control rats. RESULTS: ABA animals at maximum weight loss had significantly lower plasma levels of cysteine and glutathione compared to SED controls. Additionally, ABA animals at max weight loss have significantly more mPFC mitochondrial fission. There were no significant differences in plasma analyte levels or mitochondrial fission between weight recovered ABA animals and SED controls. DISCUSSION: These data suggest that ABA experience results in oxidative stress that is remedied after weight restoration. The long-lasting ramifications of transient periods of increased oxidative stress are unknown and can lead to significant consequences on brain function and behavior.