Transitional-age youth (TAY; 15 to 25 years old) are more likely to experience psychological problems compared to other age groups. This study aimed to identify the most relevant transdiagnostic facto Show more
Transitional-age youth (TAY; 15 to 25 years old) are more likely to experience psychological problems compared to other age groups. This study aimed to identify the most relevant transdiagnostic factors underlying internalizing and externalizing symptoms in TAY, including perfectionism, perceived stress, self-compassion, psychological flexibility, adaptive and maladaptive emotion regulation, self-esteem, and autonomy. The sample consisted of 87 TAY from a clinical and 649 from a community sample (M = 20.71, 64.1% female). Confidence Interval Based Estimation of Relevance (CIBER) was used to detect the most relevant transdiagnostic factors, and Latent Profile Analyses (LPA) were used to identify groups of TAY sharing similar patterns of transdiagnostic factors. CIBER showed that all transdiagnostic factors were associated with both internalizing and externalizing symptoms, with most factors being more strongly associated with internalizing symptoms. LPA identified six groups of TAY: low resilience (6.5%), moderate low resilience (20.5%), average resilience (29.3%), moderate high resilience (26.8%), moderate high resilience - high perfectionism and autonomy (1.8%) and high resilience (15.1%). Generally, TAY in the lower resilience groups were more likely to be in the clinical sample than in the community sample and showed more symptoms compared to TAY in the higher resilience groups. Conversely, TAY in the moderate high resilience - high perfectionism and autonomy group were most likely to be in the community sample. The study highlights the importance of focusing on transdiagnostic factors in research and clinical practice for TAY. Show less
Weight loss success is dependent on the ability to refrain from regaining the lost weight in time. This feature was shown to be largely variable among individuals, and these differences, with their un Show more
Weight loss success is dependent on the ability to refrain from regaining the lost weight in time. This feature was shown to be largely variable among individuals, and these differences, with their underlying molecular processes, are diverse and not completely elucidated. Altered plasma metabolites concentration could partly explain weight loss maintenance mechanisms. In the present work, a systems biology approach has been applied to investigate the potential mechanisms involved in weight loss maintenance within the Diogenes weight-loss intervention study. A genome wide association study identified SNPs associated with plasma glycine levels within the CPS1 (Carbamoyl-Phosphate Synthase 1) gene (rs10206976, p-value = 4.709e-11 and rs12613336, p-value = 1.368e-08). Furthermore, gene expression in the adipose tissue showed that CPS1 expression levels were associated with successful weight maintenance and with several SNPs within CPS1 (cis-eQTL). In order to contextualize these results, a gene-metabolite interaction network of CPS1 and glycine has been built and analyzed, showing functional enrichment in genes involved in lipid metabolism and one carbon pool by folate pathways. CPS1 is the rate-limiting enzyme for the urea cycle, catalyzing carbamoyl phosphate from ammonia and bicarbonate in the mitochondria. Glycine and CPS1 are connected through the one-carbon pool by the folate pathway and the urea cycle. Furthermore, glycine could be linked to metabolic health and insulin sensitivity through the betaine osmolyte. These considerations, and the results from the present study, highlight a possible role of CPS1 and related pathways in weight loss maintenance, suggesting that it might be partly genetically determined in humans. Show less