VACCINE

Journal Of The American Academy Of Child And Adolescent Psychiatry • May 1987
Reduced natural killer cell activity in autism
Warren RP, Foster A, Margaretten NC.
Dr. Warren is Associate Professor of Biology
and the Developmental Center for Handicapped Persons
Utah State University, Logan, Utah.
Ms. Foster is Nursing Supervisor, Inpalient Psychiatric Unit,
Primary Children’s Medical Center
Salt Lake City, Utah.
Dr. Margaretten is currently a Postdoctoral Fellow
Oakridge National Laboratory, Oakridge, Tennessee.
Abstract
Natural killer (NK) cells arc believed to afford protection against malignancy and viral
infections. In addition, these cells may be involved in regulating the immune response because
altered NK activity is often associated with autoimmune disorders. An investigation
of the natural cytotoxic potential of peripheral blood mononuclear cells from 31 patients
with autism has been carried out using K562 tumor cells as target cells. Cells of 12 of the
patients induced significantly reduced levels of cytotoxicity; this was not correlated with a
quantitative alteration in patient NK cells as determined by use of the Leu-11 monoclonal
antibody. This observation of altered NK cell activity, and previously reported findings of
other immune abnormalities in autism, suggest that immune changes may be directly related
to underlying biological processes of autism or that these changes may be an indirect
reflection of the actual pathological mechanism.
http://www.jaacap.com/article/S0890-8567(09)65685-9/abstract
“This observation of altered NK cell activity,
and previously reported findings of other immune
abnormalities in autism, suggest that immune
changes may be directly related to underlying
biological processes of autism or that these
changes may be an indirect reflection of the
actual pathological mechanism.”