Autism Studies and Related Medical Conditions, January 2009 - TACA

first to report an association between virus serology and brain autoantibody in
autism; it supports the hypothesis that a virus-induced autoimmune response
may play a causal role in autism.
Singh, V. K. and W. H. Rivas (2004). "Prevalence of serum antibodies to caudate
nucleus in autistic children." Neurosci Lett 355(1-2): 53-6.
Autism may involve autoimmunity to brain. We studied regional distribution of
antibodies to rat caudate nucleus, cerebral cortex, cerebellum, brain stem and
hippocampus. The study included 30 normal and 68 autistic children. Antibodies
were assayed by immunoblotting. Autistic children, but not normal children, had
antibodies to caudate nucleus (49% positive sera), cerebral cortex (18% positive
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.
Singh, V. K., R. Warren, et al. (1997). "Circulating autoantibodies to neuronal and glial
filament proteins in autism." Pediatr Neurol 17(1): 88-90.
Autoimmunity may be a pathogenic factor in autism, a behavioral disorder of
early childhood onset. Circulating autoantibodies are produced in organ-specific
autoimmunity; therefore, we investigated them in the plasma of autistic subjects,
mentally retarded (MR) subjects, and healthy controls. Autoantibodies (IgG
isotype) to neuron-axon filament protein (anti-NAFP) and glial fibrillary acidic
protein (anti-GFAP) were analyzed by the Western immunoblotting technique.
We found a significant increase in incidence of anti-NAFP (P = .004) and anti-
GFAP (P = .002) in autistic subjects, but not in MR subjects. Clinically, these
autoantibodies may be related to autoimmune pathology in autism.
Singh, V. K., R. P. Warren, et al. (1993). "Antibodies to myelin basic protein in children
with autistic behavior." Brain Behav Immun 7(1): 97-103.
Based on a possible pathological relationship of autoimmunity to autism,
antibodies reactive with myelin basic protein (anti-MBP) were investigated in the
sera of autistic children. Using a screening serum dilution of 1:400 in the proteinimmunoblotting
technique, approximately 58% (19 of 33) sera of autistic
children (< or = 10 years of age) were found to be positive for anti-MBP. This
result in autistics was significantly (p < or = .0001) different from the controls (8
of 88 or only 9% positive), which included age-matched children with normal
health, idiopathic mental retardation (MR) and Down syndrome (DS), and normal
adults of 20 to 40 years of age. Since autism is a syndrome of unknown etiology,
it is possible that anti-MBP antibodies are associated with the development of
autistic behavior.
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