Prediction of postnatal developmental disabilities using the antenatal fetal neurodevelopmental test: KANET assessment

Pre-autism: What a paediatrician should know about early diagnosis of autism‎

Autism, also known as an autism spectrum disorder, is a complex neurodevelopmental disorder usually diagnosed in the first three years of a child's life. A range of symptoms characterizes it and can be diagnosed at any age, including adolescence and adulthood. However, early diagnosis is crucial for effective management, prognosis, and care. Unfortunately, there are no established fetal, prenatal, or newborn screening programs for autism, making early detection difficult. This review aims to shed light on the early detection of autism prenatally, natally, and early in life, during a stage we call as "pre-autism" when typical symptoms are not yet apparent. Some fetal, neonatal, and infant biomarkers may predict an increased risk of autism in the coming baby. By developing a biomarker array, we can create an objective diagnostic tool to diagnose and rank the severity of autism for each patient. These biomarkers could be genetic, immunological, hormonal, metabolic, amino acids, acute phase reactants, neonatal brainstem function biophysical activity, behavioral profile, body measurements, or radiological markers. However, every biomarker has its accuracy and limitations. Several factors can make early detection of autism a real challenge. To improve early detection, we need to overcome various challenges, such as raising community awareness of early signs of autism, improving access to diagnostic tools, reducing the stigma attached to the diagnosis of autism, and addressing various culturally sensitive concepts related to the disorder.

Systemic Supplementation of Collagen VI by Neonatal Transplantation of iPSC-Derived MSCs Improves Histological Phenotype and Function of Col6-Deficient Model Mice

Collagen VI is distributed in the interstitium and is secreted mainly by mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) in skeletal muscle. Mutations in COL6A1-3 genes cause a spectrum of COL6-related myopathies. In this study, we performed a systemic transplantation study of human-induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC)-derived MSCs (iMSCs) into neonatal immunodeficient COL6-related myopathy model (Col6a1^KO/NSG) mice to validate the therapeutic potential. Engraftment of the donor cells and the resulting rescued collagen VI were observed at the quadriceps and diaphragm after intraperitoneal iMSC transplantation. Transplanted mice showed improvement in pathophysiological characteristics compared with untreated Col6a1^KO/NSG mice. In detail, higher muscle regeneration in the transplanted mice resulted in increased muscle weight and enlarged myofibers. Eight-week-old mice showed increased muscle force and performed better in the grip and rotarod tests. Overall, these findings support the concept that systemic iMSC transplantation can be a therapeutic option for COL6-related myopathies.

Multi-center results on the clinical use of KANET

An extensive review of the literature on the diagnostic and clinical accuracy of Kurjak's antenatal neurodevelopmental test (KANET) and the summarized results of the multi-center study involving 10 centers revealed that four-dimensional ultrasonography (4D US) has become a powerful tool and KANET a valuable test that empowers the clinicians worldwide to evaluate the fetal behavior in a systematic way and contribute to the detection of fetuses that might be at high risk for neurological impairments and in particular cerebral palsy (CP). After 10 years of clinical use, many published papers and multi-center studies, hundreds of trained physicians and numerous tests performed all over the world, KANET has proven its value and has been showing encouraging results so far. The aim of this paper is to show the results from the studies done so far and to reveal the clinical value of the KANET. We expect that data from the larger ongoing collaborative study, the short- and long-term postnatal follow-up will continue to improve our knowledge. Ultimately, we all strive to prevent the CP disorders, autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and other neurological impairments and we are convinced that KANET might be helpful in the realization of this important aim.