Zhongxue Chen

Publications (4)15.59 Total impact

• Article: The role of drinking water sources, consumption of vegetables and seafood in relation to blood arsenic concentrations of Jamaican children with and without Autism Spectrum Disorders.

  Mohammad H Rahbar, Maureen Samms-Vaughan, Manouchehr Ardjomand-Hessabi, Katherine A Loveland, Aisha S Dickerson, Zhongxue Chen, Jan Bressler, Sydonnie Shakespeare-Pellington, Megan L Grove, Kari Bloom, Julie Wirth, Deborah A Pearson, Eric Boerwinkle
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  ABSTRACT: Arsenic is a toxic metal with harmful effects on human health, particularly on cognitive function. Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASDs) are lifelong neurodevelopmental and behavioral disorders manifesting in infancy or early childhood. We used data from 130 children between 2 and 8 years (65 pairs of ASD cases with age- and sex-matched control), to compare the mean total blood arsenic concentrations in children with and without ASDs in Kingston, Jamaica. Based on univariable analysis, we observed a significant difference between ASD cases and controls (4.03 μg/L for cases vs. 4.48 μg/L for controls, P<0.01). In the final multivariable General Linear Model (GLM), after controlling for car ownership, maternal age, parental education levels, source of drinking water, consumption of "yam, sweet potato, or dasheen", "carrot or pumpkin", "callaloo, broccoli, or pak choi", cabbage, avocado, and the frequency of seafood consumption per week, we did not find a significant association between blood arsenic concentrations and ASD status (4.36 μg/L for cases vs. 4.65 μg/L for controls, P=0.23). Likewise, in a separate final multivariable GLM, we found that source of drinking water, eating avocado, and eating "callaloo, broccoli, or pak choi" was significantly associated with higher blood arsenic concentrations (all three P<0.05). Based on our findings, we recommend assessment of arsenic levels in water, fruits, and vegetables, as well as increased awareness among the Jamaican population regarding potential risks for various exposures to arsenic.
  Science of The Total Environment 07/2012; 433:362-70. · 3.29 Impact Factor
• Article: Seafood Consumption and Blood Mercury Concentrations in Jamaican Children With and Without Autism Spectrum Disorders.

  Mohammad H Rahbar, Maureen Samms-Vaughan, Katherine A Loveland, Manouchehr Ardjomand-Hessabi, Zhongxue Chen, Jan Bressler, Sydonnie Shakespeare-Pellington, Megan L Grove, Kari Bloom, Deborah A Pearson, Gerald C Lalor, Eric Boerwinkle
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  ABSTRACT: Mercury is a toxic metal shown to have harmful effects on human health. Several studies have reported high blood mercury concentrations as a risk factor for autism spectrum disorders (ASDs), while other studies have reported no such association. The goal of this study was to investigate the association between blood mercury concentrations in children and ASDs. Moreover, we investigated the role of seafood consumption in relation to blood mercury concentrations in Jamaican children. Based on data for 65 sex- and age-matched pairs (2-8 years), we used a General Linear Model to test whether there is an association between blood mercury concentrations and ASDs. After controlling for the child's frequency of seafood consumption, maternal age, and parental education, we did not find a significant difference (P = 0.61) between blood mercury concentrations and ASDs. However, in both cases and control groups, children who ate certain types of seafood (i.e., salt water fish, sardine, or mackerel fish) had significantly higher (all P < 0.05) geometric means blood mercury concentration which were about 3.5 times that of children living in the US or Canada. Our findings also indicate that Jamaican children with parents who both had education up to high school are at a higher risk of exposure to mercury compared to children with at least one parent who had education beyond high school. Based on our findings, we recommend additional education to Jamaican parents regarding potential hazards of elevated blood mercury concentrations, and its association with seafood consumption and type of seafood.
  Neurotoxicity Research 04/2012; · 3.51 Impact Factor
• Article: The argatroban and tissue-type plasminogen activator stroke study: final results of a pilot safety study.

  Andrew D Barreto, Andrei V Alexandrov, Pat Lyden, Jessica Lee, Sheryl Martin-Schild, Loren Shen, Tzu-Ching Wu, April Sisson, Renganayaki Pandurengan, Zhongxue Chen, [......], Clotilde Balucani, Kristian Barlinn, Rebecca M Sugg, Zsolt Garami, Georgios Tsivgoulis, Nicole R Gonzales, Sean I Savitz, Robert Mikulik, Andrew M Demchuk, James C Grotta
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  ABSTRACT: Argatroban is a direct thrombin inhibitor that safely augments recanalization achieved by tissue-type plasminogen activator (tPA) in animal stroke models. The Argatroban tPA Stroke Study was an open-label, pilot safety study of tPA plus Argatroban in patients with ischemic stroke due to proximal intracranial occlusion. During standard-dose intravenous tPA, a 100-μg/kg bolus of Argatroban and infusion for 48 hours was adjusted to a target partial thromboplastin time of 1.75× baseline. The primary outcome was incidence of significant intracerebral hemorrhage defined as either symptomatic intracerebral hemorrhage or Parenchymal Hematoma Type 2. Recanalization was measured at 2 and 24 hours by transcranial Doppler or CT angiography. Sixty-five patients were enrolled (45% men, mean age 63±14 years, median National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale=13). The median (interquartile range) time tPA to Argatroban bolus was 51 (38-60) minutes. Target anticoagulation was reached at a median (interquartile range) of 3 (2-7) hours. Significant intracerebral hemorrhage occurred in 4 patients (6.2%; 95% CI, 1.7-15.0). Of these, 3 were symptomatic (4.6%; 95% CI, 0.9-12.9). Seven patients (10%) died in the first 7 days. Within the 2-hour monitoring period, transcranial Doppler recanalization (n=47) occurred in 29 (61%) patients: complete in 19 (40%) and partial in another 10 (21%). The combination of Argatroban and intravenous tPA is potentially safe in patients with moderate neurological deficits due to proximal intracranial arterial occlusions and may produce more complete recanalization than tPA alone. Continued evaluation of this treatment combination is warranted. URL: www.clinicaltrials.gov. Unique identifier: NCT00268762.
  Stroke 03/2012; 43(3):770-5. · 5.73 Impact Factor
• Article: Maternal and paternal age are jointly associated with childhood autism in Jamaica.

  Mohammad H Rahbar, Maureen Samms-Vaughan, Katherine A Loveland, Deborah A Pearson, Jan Bressler, Zhongxue Chen, Manouchehr Ardjomand-Hessabi, Sydonnie Shakespeare-Pellington, Megan L Grove, Compton Beecher, Kari Bloom, Eric Boerwinkle
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  ABSTRACT: Several studies have reported maternal and paternal age as risk factors for having a child with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), yet the results remain inconsistent. We used data for 68 age- and sex-matched case-control pairs collected from Jamaica. Using Multivariate General Linear Models (MGLM) and controlling for parity, gestational age, and parental education, we found a significant (p < 0.0001) joint effect of parental ages on having children with ASD indicating an adjusted mean paternal age difference between cases and controls of [5.9 years; 95% CI (2.6, 9.1)] and a difference for maternal age of [6.5 years; 95% CI (4.0, 8.9)]. To avoid multicollinearity in logistic regression, we recommend joint modeling of parental ages as a vector of outcome variables using MGLM.
  Journal of Autism and Childhood Schizophrenia 01/2012; 42(9):1928-38. · 3.06 Impact Factor