Autism Studies and Related Medical Conditions, January 2009 - TACA

sera) and cerebellum (9% positive sera). Brain stem and hippocampus were
negative. Antibodies to caudate nucleus were directed towards three proteins
having 160, 115 and 49 kD molecular weights. Since a significant number of
autistic children had antibodies to caudate nucleus, we propose that an
autoimmune reaction to this brain region may cause neurological impairments in
autistic children. Thus, the caudate nucleus might be involved in the
neurobiology of autism.
PMID: 14729233 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
Stubbs EG, Crawford ML. Depressed lymphocyte responsiveness in autistic children. J
Autism Child Schizophr. 1977 Mar;7(1):49-55.
Although there are associations linking autism with prenatal rubella,
cytomegalovirus, syphilis, and varicella, the etiology of the autistic state remains
obscure. Host defense against the etiologic agents postulated to be responsible
for the autism-associated syndromes is believed to be primarily of the cellmediated
type. In this preliminary study, cellular immune function was assessed
in vitro by phytohemagglutinin (PHA) stimulation of lymphocyte cultures. Twelve
autistic children and 13 control subjects were compared. The autistic group
exhibited a depressed lymphocyte transformation response to PHA when
compared to the control subjects (p less than .01).
PMID: 139400 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
Sweeten TL, Bowyer SL, Posey DJ, Halberstadt GM, McDougle CJ. Increased prevalence
of familial autoimmunity in probands with pervasive developmental disorders.
Pediatrics. 2003 Sweeten TL, Posey DJ, McDougle CJ. High blood monocyte counts and
neopterin levels in children with autistic disorder. Am J Psychiatry. 2003
Sep;160(9):1691-3.
Department of Psychiatry, Indiana University School of Medicine, and James
Whitcomb Riley Hospital for Children Indianapolis 46202-4800, USA.
OBJECTIVES: Increased prevalence of familial autoimmune disease is a common
finding among probands with various autoimmune disorders. Autistic disorder
(autism) is a highly genetic disorder with known immune and immunogenetic
abnormalities. Previous research has found an increased frequency of
autoimmune disorders in families with autistic probands. We further investigated
this association by determining the frequency of autoimmune disorders in
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