Background: Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a developmental disorder characterized by social behavior deficits and stereotyped behaviors in childhood that lacks satisfactory medical intervention. Early swimming intervention is a noninvasive method combining enriched environment and exercise, which has been proven to improve brain development in young children and to treat neurodevelopmental diseases. Methods: In this study, we tested the autism-like behavior of rats with deletions in exons 11– 21 of the Shank3 gene and evaluated the effect of early swimming intervention (from postnatal day 8 to 60) on the behavior of this animal model of autism. In addition, the transcriptomes of the striatal tissues of wild-type, Shank3 knockout and Shank3 knockout swimming groups rats were analyzed. Results: Shank3 knockout rats exhibit core symptoms of autism, and early swimming improved the social and stereotyped behaviors in this autism rat model. Transcriptomics results revealed that compared to the wild-type group, 291 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were identified in the striatum of the Shank3 knockout group. Compared to Shank3 knockout group, 534 DEGs were identified in the striatum of Shank3 knockout swimming group. The DEGs annotated by Gene Ontology (GO), Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway shows that the impacts of Shank3 deletion were primarily reflected in synaptic structure, development, morphology, receptor function and signaling, and swimming primarily changed the terms related to the synapses in the striatum of Shank3 knockout rats, including the morphology, structure, composition, development and regulation of synapses. Conclusion: Early swimming intervention can ameliorate behavioral abnormalities caused by Shank3 knockout, by a mechanism that may involve the process of striatal synaptic development and should be further investigated.

The effect of exercise interventions on autism spectrum disorder (ASD) has been demonstrated in many studies, and the discovery of a bidirectional relationship between the gut microbiome (GM) and the central nervous system (CNS) has led to the concept of the microbial gut-brain axis (MGBA) and has linked the abnormal GM to a variety of neuropsychiatric disorders, autism being one of them. Research on improving the GM through exercise is also starting to come into focus. However, there are currently few studies on exercise intervention in the GM of autism. The purpose of this review was to find evidence to explore the possible potential effects of exercise to improve the behavior of individuals with autism in the MGBA in this treatment, as well as the potential of GM as an exercise treatment for autism. We will explore (1) changes in GM components of ASD and their relationship to the pathophysiology of ASD; (2) the relationship between exercise and changes in GM components, and (3) the effect of exercise on GM in CNS disorders. Ultimately, we concluded that Streptococcus, Bifidobacterium, Clostridium, Bacteroides, and Blautia may be potential effectors through the MGBA network during exercise to ameliorate ASD targeting microbiotas. They deserve high attention in the follow-up studies.

Purpose: Urine can sensitively reflect early pathophysiological changes in the body. The purpose of this study was to explore the changes of urine proteome in rats with regular swimming exercise. Methods: In this study, experimental rats were subjected to daily moderate-intensity swimming exercise for 7 weeks. Urine samples were collected at weeks 2, 5, and 7 and were analyzed by using liquid chromatography coupled with tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS). Results: Unsupervised clustering analysis of all urinary proteins identified at week 2 showed that the swimming group was distinctively different from the control group. Compared to the control group, a total of 112, 61 and 44 differential proteins were identified in the swimming group at weeks 2, 5 and 7, respectively. Randomized grouping statistical analysis showed that more than 85% of the differential proteins identified in this study were caused by swimming exercise rather than random allocation. According to the Human Protein Atlas, the differential proteins that have human orthologs were strongly expressed in the liver, kidney and intestine. Functional annotation analysis revealed that these differential proteins were involved in glucose metabolism and immunity-related pathways. Conclusion: Our results revealed that the urinary proteome could reflect significant changes after regular swimming exercise. These findings may provide an approach to monitor the effects of exercise of the body.

Introduction: SHANK3 is an important excitatory postsynaptic scaffold protein, and its mutations lead to genetic cause of neurodevelopmental diseases including autism spectrum disorders (ASD), Philan McDermid syndrome (PMS), and intellectual disability (ID). Early prevention and treatment are important for Shank3 gene mutation disease. Swimming has been proven to have a positive effect on neurodegenerative diseases.Methods: Shank3 gene exon 11–21 knockout rats were intervened by a 40 min/day, 5 day/week for 8‐week protocol. After the intervention, the rats were tested to behavioral measures such as learning and memory, and the volume and H‐spectrum of the brain were measured using MRI; hippocampal dendritic spines were measured using Golgi staining and laser confocal.Results: The results showed that Shank3‐deficient rats had significant deficits in social memory, object recognition, and water maze learning decreased hippocampal volume and number of neurons, and lower levels of related scaffold proteins and receptor proteins were found in Shank3‐deficient rats.Conclusion: It is suggested that early swimming exercise has a positive effect on Shank3 gene‐deficient rats, which provides a new therapeutic strategy for the prevention and recovery of neurodevelopmental disorders.

The prevalence of obesity among preschool children has risen dramatically due to the influx of Western fast food in China. In this study, we aimed to provide clear evidence on the associations between fast-food restaurants and childhood obesity. We collected and combined three unique cross-sectional datasets: physical fitness data, geographic information, and the financial data of each kindergarten. The two-stage least squares were used for empirical analyses. The final data including 75,730 children were from 785 kindergartens in 82 cities and 23 provinces in China in 2018. The mean age of participants was 4.94 ± 0.87; 34,249 (45.2%) females and 41,481 (54.8%) males. The number of fast-food restaurants within 1, 2, and 3 km radii had a significant and positive correlation with obesity, and this correlation decreased as the radius increased. Furthermore, the distance to the nearest fast-food restaurant had a significant and negative correlation with obesity. Western fast-food restaurants contributed more to obesity than the broader definition of fast-food restaurants. There was marked heterogeneity between urban and rural areas. Our findings documented that fast-food restaurants had a significant and positive association with childhood obesity, thus the restriction of fast-food restaurants surrounding kindergartens might be considered.

Purpose: To explore the association between the physical health (PH) and physical activity behavior (PAB) of children aged 3 to 6 years, and to provide a basis for the scientific planning of children’s physical activity behavior in kindergarten. Methods: A total of 18041 children in China aged 3 to 6 years were selected as the research subject. The PH monitoring indicators were measured according to "The National Physical Fitness Measurement Standards Manual" (Preschool Children Version) (NPFMSM), and PAB was reported by teachers. The chi-square test was used to test for differences in PH and PAB across groups, the percentile method was used to rank PAB, correlation analysis was used to analyze the association between components of PH and PAB, and multiple linear regression was used to determine the independent association between PAB and PH. Results: Participants in this study exhibited poor PH status, and the detection rates of failure were 16.4% for boys and 16.8% for girls, and showed a decreasing trend with increasing age. The grade difference and sex difference in PH components were statistically significant (P<0.01). PAB changes to static activities with increasing age, mainly to static indoor physical activities (SIPAs). The regression effects of the total duration of physical activity (TDPA) and dynamic physical activity (DPA) on PH score and physical fitness (PF) score were significant (P < 0.01) but not statistically significant with static physical activity (SPA) (P>0.05). Dynamic outdoor physical activity (DOPA) is the core factor affecting children’s PH, and is significantly positively correlated with the components of PH. Conclusion: PAB in kindergarten can improve children’s PH, and reasonable planning of PAB in kindergarten has a targeted effect on PH promotion.