Publikácie

- 1. SEPTEMBER 2020
Do „autistic traits“ determine our career choice?
AUTORI: Kyselicová, K., Čelárová, D., Celušáková, H., Janšáková, K., Greguš, M., Neščáková, E., Ostatníková, D.

ABSTRACT: Objectives: Autistic traits may display a continuous distribution throughout the population. The aim of the present study was to assess the prevalence of autistic traits in university students and look for possible cognitive or behavioral differences between students of humanities and sciences in the context of the extreme male brain theory.
Participants and setting: The AQ-10 was used as a quick screening tool in a sample of 369 individuals enrolled in four programs: Medicine (N = 107), Psychology (N = 136), Biology (N = 89) and Management (N = 37).
Hypotheses: In accordance with the extreme male brain theory, we expected students of sciences to report more autistic traits than students of humanities, as well as males in general, when compared to females.
Statistical analysis: For the statistical analysis, GraphPad PRISM was used. To assess intersexual differences and differences between the study groups in the reached AQ-10 scores, a two way ANOVA was used.
Results: Sex differences in autistic traits and a relationship between autistic traits and area of study were found. Male students reached higher scores than females (p = 0.0016). Male psychology students reported less autistic traits than medicine students (p = 0.0413) or management students (p = 0.0292), while female psychology students reported less autistic traits than biology students (p = 0.0425). The AQ-10 tool was sensitive enough to capture differences in the occurrence of autistic traits between neurotypical students of humanities and scientific programs. Our findings raise the question whether ones admission to different programs and future career pathing is determined by traits that are associated with autism spectrum disorders.
Study limitations: There are certain limitations due to the high female: male ratio (267 : 102), caused by the current decrease of interest of males to study psychology and biology, where this ratio was notably uneven.

Česká antropologie, 2020, 70(1-2):4-10

http://anthropology.cz/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/CeskaAnthropo_2020_1-2-clanek1.pdf
- 1. AUGUST 2020
Specificity of gut microbiota in children with autism spectrum disorder in Slovakia and its correlation with astrocytes activity marker and specific behavioural patterns
AUTORI: Sashova Tomova, A., Soltys, K., Repiska, G., Palkova, L., Celarova, D., Minarik, G., Turna, J., Prochotska, K., Babinska, K., Ostatnikova, D

ABSTRACT: Recent research suggests the involvement of bidirectional gut-brain axis in autism spectrum disorder (ASD). The aim of this study was to establish the role of changed gut microbiota in behavioural and gastrointestinal manifestations, but also in astrocyte activation in children with ASD. Distinct faecal microbiota in children with ASD was found to be more heterogeneous compared to that in neurotypical children. Different bacterial abundance and correlation with behavioural and GI manifestations revealed several bacterial genera possibly important for ASD. Microbial-neuronal cross talk could be accomplished through S100B, released by glial cells, activated by low grade inflammation. More complex studies are required to understand ASD pathogenesis.

Physiology & Behavior,. 214: p. 1-6. 2020

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0031938419308662

- 1. JUNE 2020
Gastrointestinal symptoms and feeding problems and their associations with dietary interventions, food supplement use and behavioral characteristics in a sample of children and adolescents with autism spectrum disorders
AUTORI: Babinska, K., Celusakova, H., Belica, I., Szapuova, Z., Waczulikova, I., Nemcsicsova, D., Tomova, A., Ostatnikova, D.

ABSTRACT: Autism spectrum disorders (ASD) are characterized by impairments in social interaction, communication, and restricted, stereotyped behavior. Gastrointestinal (GI), nutritional, and feeding problems are often reported in ASD. We investigated the prevalence of GI symptoms, food selectivity, and mealtime difficulties, and their associations with dietary interventions, food supplement use, and behavioral characteristics in a sample involving 247 participants with ASD and 267 controls aged 2–18 years. Data were collected by a questionnaire. GI symptoms were observed in 88.9% of children and adolescents with ASD, more often in girls than in boys. High rates of food selectivity (69.1%) and mealtime problems (64.3%) were found. Food supplements were used by 66.7% of individuals, mainly vitamins/minerals, probiotics, and omega-3 fatty acids. In the ASD sample, 21.2% of subjects followed a diet, mostly based on gluten and milk restriction, including individuals exhibiting food selectivity. Frequency of GI symptoms, food selectivity, and mealtime problems correlated weakly, but significantly with behavioral characteristics in the ASD group, but not with food supplement use. The study demonstrated that higher frequency of GI symptoms, food selectivity, and mealtime problems are a common problem in pre-schoolers, schoolchildren, and adolescents with ASD, and together with dietary modification, they are significantly associated with ASD.

International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, , 2020, 17(17), 6372

https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/17/17/6372/htm
- 1. MAY 2020
A Novel UHPLC-MS Method Targeting Urinary Metabolomic Markers for Autism Spectrum Disorder
AUTORI: Olesova, D., Galba, J., Piestansky, J., Celusakova, H., Repiska, G., Babinska, K., Ostatnikova, D., Katina, S., Kovac, A..

ABSTRACT: Autism spectrum disorder is a heterogeneous neurodevelopmental disease. Currently, no biomarker of this disease is known. Diagnosis is performed through observation, standardized behavioral scales, and interviews with parents. In practice, diagnosis is often delayed to the average age of four years or even more which adversely affects a child’s perspective. A laboratory method allowing to detect the disorder at earlier stages is of a great need, as this could help the patients to start with treatment at a younger age, even prior to the clinical diagnosis. Recent evidence indicates that metabolomic markers should be considered as diagnostic markers, also serving for further differentiation and characterization of different subgroups of the autism spectrum. In this study, we developed an ultra-high performance liquid chromatography-tandem triple quadrupole mass spectrometry method for the simultaneous determination of six metabolites in human urine. These metabolites, namely methylguanidine, N-acetyl arginine, inosine, indole-3-acetic acid, indoxyl sulfate and xanthurenic acid were selected as potential biomarkers according to prior metabolomic studies. The analysis was carried out by means of reversed-phase liquid chromatography with gradient elution. Separation of the metabolites was performed on a Phenomenex Luna^® Omega Polar C18 (100 × 1.0 mm, 1.6 µm) column at a flow rate of 0.15 mL/min with acetonitrile/water 0.1% formic acid aqueous as the mobile phase. The analysis was performed on a group of children with autism spectrum disorder and age-matched controls. In school children, we have detected disturbances in the levels of oxidative stress markers connected to arginine and purine metabolism, namely methylguanidine and N-acetylargine. Also, products of gut bacteria metabolism, namely indoxyl sulfate and indole-3-acetic acid, were found to be elevated in the patients’ group. We can conclude that this newly developed method is fast, sensitive, reliable, and well suited for the quantification of proposed markers.

Metabolites, 2020. 10: 443

https://www.mdpi.com/2218-1989/10/11/443/htm

Do „autistic traits“ determine our career choice?

Specificity of gut microbiota in children with autism spectrum disorder in Slovakia and its correlation with astrocytes activity marker and specific behavioural patterns

Gastrointestinal symptoms and feeding problems and their associations with dietary interventions, food supplement use and behavioral characteristics in a sample of children and adolescents with autism spectrum disorders

A Novel UHPLC-MS Method Targeting Urinary Metabolomic Markers for Autism Spectrum Disorder