Journal of Neurodevelopmental Disorders最新文献

{"title":"Remote EEG acquisition in Angelman syndrome using PANDABox-EEG.","authors":"Kimberly Gálvez-Ortega, Roslyn Harold, Wei Siong Neo, Orlando S Hoilett, Amanda M Borosh, Alexa Friesen-Haarer, Stephanie Gombas, Dan Foti, Bridgette Kelleher","doi":"10.1186/s11689-025-09611-x","DOIUrl":"10.1186/s11689-025-09611-x","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Objective: </strong>We describe the development and validation of PANDABox-EEG, a novel protocol for remote EEG assessment with no on-site technician, tailored for Angelman syndrome (AS). We argue that this protocol is reliable, valid, and widely acceptable for use in families affected by Angelman syndrome.</p><p><strong>Background: </strong>AS is a rare neurogenetic condition characterized by developmental delays, sleep problems, seizures, and a happy demeanor. People with AS are frequently monitored via EEG to inform clinical care, and EEG-measured delta activity has been proposed as a reliable biomarker to monitor treatment effectiveness. Traditional EEG assessments pose logistical and financial burdens for families due to the need to travel to a medical center to complete assessments. Telehealth methods, however, offer a pathway forward.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>PANDABox-EEG was developed through multidisciplinary collaboration with psychologists, psychophysiologists, engineers, and special-education scholars, incorporating caregiver feedback and user-centered design principles. It pairs PANDABox, a telehealth platform for biobehavioral assessment in rare disorders, with a dry electrode EEG system. Twenty-eight participants (7 AS, 7 siblings, 14 caregivers) completed three 5-min EEG sessions each over the course of a week. Caregivers were asked to provide feedback on acceptability of the design, and EEG data was quantified and assessed for metrics of reliability and validity.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>PANDABox-EEG demonstrated high feasibility and acceptability, with 91% of caregivers reporting strong satisfaction assessment comfort. EEG data quality was promising, with high internal consistency (split-half reliability range for children with AS: r = .96-.98) and test-retest reliability for delta power among (test-retest reliability range for children with AS: ρ = .88-.96). Finally, we successfully detected the characteristic increased delta power in AS (effect size between AS and non-AS siblings: d = 1.56-2.85) and its association with age (effect size between non-AS siblings and caregivers: d = 2.19-2.72).</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>PANDABox-EEG provides a feasible, cost-effective, and reliable method for remote EEG assessment in AS. Its high caregiver satisfaction and ability to capture relevant neurophysiological markers suggest potential for broader application. With further validation, PANDABox-EEG can enhance accessibility and inclusivity, benefiting clinical management and research in AS and other clinical populations in need of frequent EEG monitoring by eliminating the need to travel.</p>","PeriodicalId":16530,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Neurodevelopmental Disorders","volume":"17 1","pages":"29"},"PeriodicalIF":4.1,"publicationDate":"2025-05-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12102843/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144142790","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Acceptability and safety of a probiotic beverage supplementation (Bio-K +) and feasibility of the proposed protocol in children with a diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder.","authors":"Ghizlane Gaougaou, Riham Zahra, Sophia Morel, Véronique Bélanger, Inga Sophia Knoth, Dominique Cousineau, Baudouin Forgeot D'Arc, Kelly Grzywacz, Guy Rousseau, Eric Déziel, Roger Godbout, Sarah Lippé, Mathieu Millette, Valérie Marcil","doi":"10.1186/s11689-025-09617-5","DOIUrl":"10.1186/s11689-025-09617-5","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a group of neurodevelopmental disorders defined by stereotyped behavior and challenges in social communication and social interaction. ASD is associated with various comorbidities, including anxiety, gastrointestinal (GI) symptoms and sleep disorders. Evidence supports an association between intestinal dysbiosis and the severity of ASD-related symptoms. Probiotic intake was suggested to restore microbial homeostasis and decrease neurobehavioral, GI and sleep symptoms in individuals diagnosed with autism.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>This study aims to evaluate the acceptability and safety of a Bio-K + probiotics beverage in autistic children aged 4 to 11 years and the feasibility of the proposed research protocol to measure its impact on behaviors and comorbidities. The 30-week study consisted of daily supplementation with Bio-K + probiotics for 14 weeks. Acceptability and safety were monitored throughout the study. Feasibility was assessed by comparing recruitment and completion rates to pre-established thresholds. Preliminary impact of supplementation on behaviors (Autism Treatment Evaluation Checklist (ATEC) score), GI symptoms and sleep disorders was evaluated.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Of the 23 children recruited (mean age 6.7 ± 2.2 years, 70% males), 65% had GI problems and 91% had sleep disorders. Probiotic supplementation was accepted by all participants and no product-related adverse event was reported. Feasibility rates exceeded pre-established thresholds for almost all study outcomes including recruitment rate, compliance, electroencephalography, actigraphy and completion of questionnaires. Preliminary data suggest an improvement in behaviors associated with autism assessed with the total ATEC score, and in GI symptoms and sleep disorders.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>This study demonstrates probiotic beverage acceptability and safety and protocol feasibility in autistic children. To further support our data, a double-blinded placebo-controlled study is needed to determine its efficacy.</p>","PeriodicalId":16530,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Neurodevelopmental Disorders","volume":"17 1","pages":"30"},"PeriodicalIF":4.1,"publicationDate":"2025-05-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12102953/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144142789","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Contribution of families using the GenIDA database to the description of MED13L syndrome and literature review.","authors":"Roseline Caumes, Pauline Burger, Jean-Louis Mandel, Hélène Béhal, Jamal Ghoumid, Thomas Smol","doi":"10.1186/s11689-025-09618-4","DOIUrl":"10.1186/s11689-025-09618-4","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The GenIDA project aims to improve the understanding and management of rare genetic forms of intellectual disability by fostering collaboration among patients, caregivers, healthcare professionals, and research professionals. Clinical data is provided by patients' families via a structured questionnaire to identify medically relevant insights and better understand the natural history of rare diseases. This study focused on MED13L syndrome, analyzing data from 41 patients in the GenIDA database and comparing it with 102 cases from the scientific literature and 6 new descriptions of patients from our medical center.The GenIDA series confirmed the key features of MED13L syndrome, including global developmental delay, poor speech, intellectual disability, and cardiac defects (OMIM #616789), at frequencies similar to those reported in the literature. The GenIDA series identified a higher prevalence of visual impairment (76%) and highlighted under-recognized musculoskeletal issues, such as foot deformities, which had previously received little attention. This study highlights the value of family-reported data in describing the full phenotype of rare syndromes. A comprehensive review of published cases showed that patients with missense variants have more severe impairments, including increased cardiac defects, global developmental delay, and a higher incidence of epilepsy, than patients with premature truncated variants.These findings highlight the importance of family involvement in rare disease research and the need for further studies to explore genotype-phenotype correlations to improve patient care and outcomes.</p>","PeriodicalId":16530,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Neurodevelopmental Disorders","volume":"17 1","pages":"28"},"PeriodicalIF":4.1,"publicationDate":"2025-05-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12087057/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144101956","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Acute administration of lovastatin had no pronounced effect on motor abilities, motor coordination, gait nor simple cognition in a mouse model of Angelman syndrome.","authors":"Timothy A Fenton, Stela P Petkova, Anna Adhikari, Jill L Silverman","doi":"10.1186/s11689-025-09616-6","DOIUrl":"10.1186/s11689-025-09616-6","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Translational research is needed to discover pharmacological targets and treatments for the diagnostic behavioral domains of neurodevelopmental disorders (NDDs), including autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) and intellectual disabilities (IDs). One NDD, associated with ASD and ID, is Angelman Syndrome (AS). AS is a rare genetic NDD for which there is currently no cure nor effective therapeutics. The genetic cause is known to be the loss of expression from the maternal allele of ubiquitin protein ligase E3A (UBE3A). The Ube3a maternal deletion mouse model of AS reliably demonstrates behavioral phenotypes of relevance to AS and therefore offers a suitable in vivo system in which to test potential therapeutics, with construct and face validity. Successes in reducing hyperexcitability and epileptogenesis have been reported in an AS model following acute treatment with lovastatin, an ERK inhibitor by reducing seizure threshold and percentage of mice exhibiting seizures. Since there has been literature reporting disruption of the ERK signaling pathway in AS, we chose to evaluate the effects of acute lovastatin administration in a tailored set of translationally relevant behavioral assays in a mouse model of AS. Unexpectedly, deleterious effects of sedation were observed in wildtype (WT), age matched littermate control mice and despite a baseline hypolocomotive phenotype in AS mice, even further reductions in exploratory activity, were observed post-acute lovastatin treatment. Limitations of this work include that chronic lower dose regimens, more akin to drug administration in humans were beyond the scope of this work, and may have produced a more favorable impact of lovastatin administration over single acute high doses. In addition, lovastatin's effects were not assessed in younger subjects, since our study focused exclusively on adult functional outcomes. Metrics of gait, as well as motor coordination and motor learning in rotarod, previously observed to be impaired in AS mice, were not improved by lovastatin treatment. Finally, cognition by novel object recognition task was worsened in WT controls and not improved in AS, following lovastatin administration. In conclusion, lovastatin did not indicate any major improvement to AS symptoms, and in fact, worsened behavioral outcomes in the WT control groups. Therefore, despite its attractive low toxicity, immediate availability, and low cost of the drug, further investigation for clinical study is unwarranted given the results presented herein.</p>","PeriodicalId":16530,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Neurodevelopmental Disorders","volume":"17 1","pages":"27"},"PeriodicalIF":4.1,"publicationDate":"2025-05-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12085040/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144094028","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Visual feedback and motor memory contributions to sustained motor control deficits in autism spectrum disorder across childhood and into adulthood.","authors":"Robin L Shafer, James Bartolotti, Abigail Driggers, Erin Bojanek, Zheng Wang, Matthew W Mosconi","doi":"10.1186/s11689-025-09607-7","DOIUrl":"10.1186/s11689-025-09607-7","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Autistic individuals show deficits in sustained fine motor control which are associated with an over-reliance on visual feedback. Motor memory deficits also have been reported during sustained fine motor control in autism spectrum disorders (ASD). The development of motor memory and visuomotor feedback processes contributing to sustained motor control issues in ASD are not known. The present study aimed to characterize age-related changes in visual feedback and motor memory processes contributing to sustained fine motor control issues in ASD.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>Fifty-four autistic participants and 31 neurotypical (NT) controls ages 10-25 years completed visually guided and memory guided sustained precision gripping tests by pressing on force sensors with their dominant hand index finger and thumb. For visually guided trials, participants viewed a stationary target bar and a force bar that moved upwards with increased force for 15s. During memory guided trials, the force bar was visible for 3s, after which participants attempted to maintain their force output without visual feedback for another 12s. To assess visual feedback processing, force accuracy, variability (standard deviation), and regularity (sample entropy) were examined. To assess motor memory, force decay latency, slope, and magnitude were examined during epochs without visual feedback.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Relative to NT controls, autistic individuals showed a greater magnitude and a trend for a steeper slope of force decay during memory guided trials. Across conditions, the ASD group showed reduced force accuracy (β = 0.41, R² = 0.043, t_79.3=2.36, p = .021) and greater force variability (β=-2.16, R² = 0.143, t_77.1=-4.04, p = .0001) and regularity (β=-0.52, R² = 0.021, t_77.4=-2.21, p = .030) relative to NT controls at younger ages, but these differences normalized by adolescence (age x group interactions). Lower force accuracy and greater force variability during visually guided trials and steeper decay slope during memory guided trials were associated with overall autism severity.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>Our findings that autistic individuals show a greater magnitude and tendency for a greater rate of force decay than NT individuals following the removal of visual feedback indicate that motor memory deficits contribute to fine motor control issues in ASD. Findings that sensorimotor differences in ASD were specific to younger ages suggest delayed development across multiple motor control processes.</p>","PeriodicalId":16530,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Neurodevelopmental Disorders","volume":"17 1","pages":"26"},"PeriodicalIF":4.1,"publicationDate":"2025-05-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12083110/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144086267","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Protein-truncating variants and deletions of SHANK2 are associated with autism spectrum disorder and other neurodevelopmental concerns.","authors":"Hailey Silver, Rori Greenberg, Paige M Siper, Jessica Zweifach, Renee Soufer, Mustafa Sahin, Elizabeth Berry-Kravis, Latha Valluripalli Soorya, Audrey Thurm, Jonathan A Bernstein, Alexander Kolevzon, Dorothy E Grice, Joseph D Buxbaum, Tess Levy","doi":"10.1186/s11689-025-09600-0","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1186/s11689-025-09600-0","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>SHANK2 disorder is a rare neurodevelopmental disorder caused by a deletion or pathogenic sequence variant of the SHANK2 gene and is associated with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), intellectual disability (ID), and developmental delay. To date, research in SHANK2 has focused on laboratory-based in vivo and in vitro studies with few prospective clinical studies in humans.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>A remote assessment battery was comprised of caregiver interviews with a psychiatrist, psychologists, and a genetic counselor, caregiver-reports, and review of records. Results from this cohort were reported using descriptive statistics. An age-matched sample of participants with SHANK3 haploinsufficiency (Phelan-McDermid syndrome, PMS) was used to compare adaptive behavior between the two groups.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>All ten participants demonstrated delays in adaptive behavior, with most motor skills preserved and a weakness in communication. According to parent report, 90% of participants carried a formal diagnosis of ASD, 50% of participants carried a diagnosis of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and mild-to-moderate developmental delays were noted. Sensory hyperreactivity and seeking behaviors were more pronounced than sensory hyporeactivity. Medical features included hypotonia, recurrent ear infections, and gastrointestinal abnormalities. No similar facial dysmorphic features were observed. Compared to PMS participants, individuals with SHANK2 disorder had significantly higher adaptive functioning.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>Consistent with previous studies of SHANK2 disorder, these results indicate mild to moderate developmental impairment. Overall, SHANK2 disorder is associated with developmental and adaptive functioning delays, high rates of autism, including sensory symptoms and repetitive behaviors, and ADHD. This study was limited by its remote nature, diverse age range, and the homogeneous racial and ethnic sample. Future studies should examine larger, diverse cohorts, add cognitive testing, capture longitudinal data, and include in-person assessments.</p>","PeriodicalId":16530,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Neurodevelopmental Disorders","volume":"17 1","pages":"25"},"PeriodicalIF":4.1,"publicationDate":"2025-04-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12042525/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144007253","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Automated extraction of functional biomarkers of verbal and ambulatory ability from multi-institutional clinical notes using large language models.","authors":"Levi Kaster, Ethan Hillis, Inez Y Oh, Bhooma R Aravamuthan, Virginia C Lanzotti, Casey R Vickstrom, Christina A Gurnett, Philip R O Payne, Aditi Gupta","doi":"10.1186/s11689-025-09612-w","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1186/s11689-025-09612-w","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Functional biomarkers in neurodevelopmental disorders, such as verbal and ambulatory abilities, are essential for clinical care and research activities. Treatment planning, intervention monitoring, and identifying comorbid conditions in individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDDs) rely on standardized assessments of these abilities. However, traditional assessments impose a burden on patients and providers, often leading to longitudinal inconsistencies and inequities due to evolving guidelines and associated time-cost. Therefore, this study aimed to develop an automated approach to classify verbal and ambulatory abilities from EHR data of IDD and cerebral palsy (CP) patients. Application of large language models (LLMs) to clinical notes, which are rich in longitudinal data, may provide a low-burden pipeline for extracting functional biomarkers efficiently and accurately.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>Data from the multi-institutional National Brain Gene Registry (BGR) and a CP clinic cohort were utilized, comprising 3,245 notes from 125 individuals and 5,462 clinical notes from 260 individuals, respectively. Employing three LLMs-GPT-3.5 Turbo, GPT-4 Turbo, and GPT-4 Omni-we provided the models with a clinical note and utilized a detailed conversational format to prompt the models to answer: \"Does the individual use any words?\" and \"Can the individual walk without aid?\" These responses were evaluated against ground-truth abilities, which were established using neurobehavioral assessments collected for each dataset.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>LLM pipelines demonstrated high accuracy (weighted-F1 scores > .90) in predicting ambulatory ability for both cohorts, likely due to the consistent use of Gross Motor Functional Classification System (GMFCS) as a consistent ground-truth standard. However, verbal ability predictions were more accurate in the BGR cohort, likely due to higher adherence between the prompt and ground-truth assessment questions. While LLMs can be computationally expensive, analysis of our protocol affirmed the cost effectiveness when applied to select notes from the EHR.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>LLMs are effective at extracting functional biomarkers from EHR data and broadly generalizable across variable note-taking practices and institutions. Individual verbal and ambulatory ability were accurately extracted, supporting the method's ability to streamline workflows by offering automated, efficient data extraction for patient care and research. Future studies are needed to extend this methodology to additional populations and to demonstrate more granular functional data classification.</p>","PeriodicalId":16530,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Neurodevelopmental Disorders","volume":"17 1","pages":"24"},"PeriodicalIF":4.1,"publicationDate":"2025-04-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12042395/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144014269","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Functional connectivity between the visual and salience networks and autistic social features at school-age.","authors":"Jessica B Girault, Tomoyuki Nishino, Muhamed Talović, Mary Beth Nebel, Margaret Reynolds, Catherine A Burrows, Jed T Elison, Chimei M Lee, Abraham Z Snyder, Mark D Shen, Audrey M Shen, Kelly N Botteron, Annette M Estes, Stephen R Dager, Guido Gerig, Heather C Hazlett, Natasha Marrus, Robert C McKinstry, Juhi Pandey, Robert T Schultz, Tanya St John, Martin A Styner, Lonnie Zwaigenbaum, Alexandre A Todorov, Joseph Piven, John R Pruett","doi":"10.1186/s11689-025-09613-9","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1186/s11689-025-09613-9","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is highly heritable and phenotypically variable. Neuroimaging markers reflecting variation in behavior will provide insights into circuitry subserving core features. We examined functional correlates of ASD symptomology at school-age, while accounting for associated behavioral and cognitive domains, in a longitudinal sample followed from infancy and enriched for those with a genetic liability for ASD.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>Resting state functional connectivity MRIs (fcMRI) and behavioral data were analyzed from 97 school-age children (8.1-12.0 years, 55 males, 15 ASD) with (n = 63) or without (n = 34) a family history of ASD. fcMRI enrichment analysis (EA) was used to screen for associations between network-level functional connectivity and six behaviors of interest in a data-driven manner: social affect, restricted and repetitive behavior (RRB), generalized anxiety, inattention, motor coordination, and matrix reasoning.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Functional connectivity between the visual and salience networks was significantly associated with social affect symptoms at school-age after accounting for all other behaviors. Results indicated that stronger connectivity was associated with higher social affect scores. No other behaviors were robustly associated with functional connectivity, though trends were observed between visual-salience connectivity and RRBs.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>Connectivity between the visual and salience networks may play an important role in social affect symptom variability among children with ASD and those with genetic liability for ASD. These findings align with and extend earlier reports in this sample of the central role of the visual system during infancy in ASD.</p>","PeriodicalId":16530,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Neurodevelopmental Disorders","volume":"17 1","pages":"23"},"PeriodicalIF":4.1,"publicationDate":"2025-04-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12036130/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144012317","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Transcriptomic profiling of unmethylated full mutation carriers implicates TET3 in FMR1 CGG repeat expansion methylation dynamics in fragile X syndrome.","authors":"Grace Farmiloe, Veronika Bejczy, Elisabetta Tabolacci, Rob Willemsen, Frank Jacobs","doi":"10.1186/s11689-025-09609-5","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1186/s11689-025-09609-5","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Fragile X syndrome (FXS) is a neurodevelopmental disorder caused by the expansion of a CGG repeat in the 5'UTR of the FMR1 (fragile X messenger ribonucleoprotein 1) gene. Healthy individuals possess a repeat 30-55 CGG units in length. Once the CGG repeat exceeds 200 copies it triggers methylation at the locus. This methylation covers the FMR1 promoter region and silences expression of the gene and the production of FMRP (fragile X messenger ribonucleoprotein). The loss of FMRP is responsible for a number of pathologies including neurodevelopmental delay and autism spectrum disorder. Methylation of the expanded repeat in the FMR1 locus is the causal factor for FXS, however it is not known why the expanded repeat triggers this epigenetic change or how exactly DNA methylation is established. Intriguingly, genetic engineering of expanded CGG repeats of over 300 copies in the FMR1 locus in mice remains unmethylated. Also in humans, in very rare cases, individuals can have an FMR1 CGG expansion > 200 copies but the locus remains unmethylated. These unmethylated full mutation (UFM) individuals give us a rare opportunity to investigate the mechanism of FMR1 promoter methylation.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>Fibroblasts were obtained from a healthy control, an FXS patient and two unmethylated full expansion carriers. RNA was extracted and comparative transcriptomic analysis was performed on all samples. Whole genome sequencing was carried out on DNA from the two UFM carriers and the results analysed to investigate DNA variants that could explain the observed differences in gene expression.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Our analyses focused on genes involved in epigenetic modification. We show that Tet methylcytosine dioxygenase 3 (TET3), a gene involved in DNA methylation, is significantly downregulated in UFM carriers compared to healthy controls or FXS patient derived cells. Genomic analyses reveal a number of rare variants present in the TET3 locus in UFM carriers when compared to the reference genome. However, no clear modifying TET3 variants were identified.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>Our results suggest that TET3 is a candidate factor responsible for the lack of methylation of the expanded FMR1 locus. Further analyses are needed to further elucidate this relationship, however given its potential to directly interact with CGG repeats and its ambiguous role in 5-hydroxy-methylation of CG containing sequences, TET3 is a strong candidate for further exploration.</p>","PeriodicalId":16530,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Neurodevelopmental Disorders","volume":"17 1","pages":"22"},"PeriodicalIF":4.1,"publicationDate":"2025-04-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12032669/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144029463","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Psychopharmacology in children with genetic disorders of epigenetic and chromatin regulation.","authors":"Sophia Lenz, Ajilan Sivaloganathan, Sarah J Goodman, Cheryl Cytrynbaum, Jesiqua Rapley, Emma Canning, Danielle Baribeau","doi":"10.1186/s11689-025-09605-9","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1186/s11689-025-09605-9","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Objective: </strong>Hundreds of rare genetic variants associated with autism or intellectual disability have been identified, and many impact genes known to have a primary epigenetic/chromatin regulatory function. The objective of this study was to examine and compare behavioural profiles and longitudinal psychotropic treatment patterns in children with epigenetic/chromatin variants, other rare variants impacting neurodevelopment, or no known genetic condition.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>Using electronic medical records from a pediatric psychopharmacology program for children with autism or intellectual disability, we compared clinical characteristics, longitudinal psychotropic medication profiles and side effects between those with and without a rare genetic variant, and by variant subtype [epigenetic/chromatin regulation or other variant].</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>A total of 331 children attended 2724 unique medical visits between 2019 and 2022, with a mean of 8 follow-up visits over 3.4 years. Nine children (3%) had variants in epigenetic/chromatin regulatory genes (EC), twenty-three children (7%) had other rare genetic variants (OTH), and the rest had no reported variant (NR, n = 299, 90%). Those with a rare genetic variant (EC or OTH) were more likely to have an intellectual disability and had a greater number of co-occurring physical health conditions (p < 0.01). Overall, 66% of psychotropic medications were continued for ≥ 3 visits, while 26% were discontinued. Rates of psychotropic polypharmacy, medication patterns, behavioural challenges, and co-occurring developmental diagnoses were similar between genetic groups. Analyses uncorrected for multiple comparisons suggested those with genetic variants were more likely to experience drowsiness/sedation as a side effect (EC 33%, OTH 35%, NR 16%, p < 0.05); weight gain as a side effect was also higher in the epigenetic/chromatin group (EC 50% vs OTH 11%).</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>Genetic classification of neurodevelopmental disorders (NDDs) may help anticipate treatment tolerability; additional prescribing considerations may be needed for those with rare variants. Current psychotropic prescribing practices do not differ across rare genetic NDD subgroups.</p>","PeriodicalId":16530,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Neurodevelopmental Disorders","volume":"17 1","pages":"21"},"PeriodicalIF":4.1,"publicationDate":"2025-04-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12023381/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144015857","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}