Archive for April 2008
Immune System Involved With Autism
Posted on Thursday, April 24, 2008 at 9:22 AM by T.Smith, M.S. the site author">T.Smith, M.S.
Autism appears to be influenced by the immune system.
November 2004, in the Annals of Neurology, 11 subjects that had
deceased, being diagnosed with autism, were studied. These subjects had
been killed by accident or injury; not a disease process. In each of
them, multiple areas of the brain showed the presence of inflamation. In
living patients diagnosed with autism, chemical inflamation markers are
present. Inflammation is normally associated with a response of our
immune system.
Here we can see natural killer immune system cells attacking a cancer
cell. Notice how the killer cells surround the targetted cell. Notice
the tentacles on the targetted cell.
Autism in children was studied in Molecular Psychology (April 2002), and
they found that these particular austistic children had inflammation in
the intestines. It appears that the immune system was reacting against
intestinals cells, causing the inflammation.
The UC
Davis M.I.N.D. Institute released in 2005 a study that showed
distinct biological differences in the immune system of autistic
children. Autism effects 1 out of 166 children, and looking for the
molecular differences between autistic children and the non-diagnosed
ones is important. During this study, thre is evidence that 11 genes
that control
the natural killer immune system cells are more active in autistic
children.
In 2005 analysis by other researchers at the UC Davis MIND Institute
looking at proteins in the blood. That work found autistic children had
20 percent more B cells, an immune cell that produces antibodies, and 40
percent more natural killer cells, which attack tumors, viruses and
other invaders.
Edited on: Thursday, April 24, 2008 9:41 AMPosted in Immune System