138 posts · 27,057 views
Autism research and other musings
Paul Whiteley
138 posts
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- July 13, 2012
- 07:37 AM
- 423 views
Brain glutathione redox status, Brussels sprouts and autism?
by Paul Whiteley in Questioning Answers
Sprouts, sprouts, sprouts @ WikipediaGlutathione in relation to autism spectrum conditions is a bit of a favourite topic of mine. I've talked about glutathione a few times on this blog (here and here) and how the various reports on a reduced level of functioning of this fantastic part of our antioxidant system seem to show more than a passing connection to cases of autism. That and the fact that consumption of a favourite foodstuff of mine, the Brussels sprout, might have quite a positive influe........ Read more »
Rose S, Melnyk S, Pavliv O, Bai S, Nick TG, Frye RE, & James SJ. (2012) Evidence of oxidative damage and inflammation associated with low glutathione redox status in the autism brain. Translational Psychiatry. PMID: 22781167
- November 16, 2012
- 07:40 AM
- 369 views
Putting Money on autoimmunity and autism
by Paul Whiteley in Questioning Answers
Go to Jail, go directly to jail... @ Wikipedia I owe a debt of gratitude to Natasa who brought me to the very short and very pay-walled communication by McDougle & Carlezon* discussing neuroinflammation and autism. Whilst the open-accessing of research is seemingly discussed in bulk these days, we are not quite there yet in making science free and accessible to all hence I can't refer you to the full-text paper at this time unfortunately.No mind, the McDougle communication is brief but........ Read more »
Money J, Bobrow NA, & Clarke FC. (1971) Autism and autoimmune disease: a family study. Journal of autism and childhood schizophrenia, 1(2), 146-60. PMID: 5172389
- July 19, 2012
- 04:33 AM
- 363 views
Mouse modeling, immune function and autism
by Paul Whiteley in Questioning Answers
Contrary to the title of this post and any images that it may conjure up of mice parading down a runway in this season's 'hottest looks' whilst pouting to the clicks and flashes of multiple cameras, I'm back to mouse models and autism again(!) and an interesting piece of research by Hsiao and colleagues*.I am kinda standing on the shoulders of giants with this paper given that it comes from the laboratory of Paul Patterson who has already run with a short description about it on his blog (see he........ Read more »
Hsiao EY, McBride SW, Chow J, Mazmanian SK, & Patterson PH. (2012) Modeling an autism risk factor in mice leads to permanent immune dysregulation. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. PMID: 22802640
- July 18, 2012
- 04:39 AM
- 356 views
Anxious children and autism traits?
by Paul Whiteley in Questioning Answers
I'm always been quite intrigued by studies examining the various behaviours linked to autism presenting in other conditions not necessarily linked to autism as a discrete entity. The various studies done on eating disorders* spring to mind as quite a good example.This type of research - when it shows some positive correlation - kinda reiterates that when we talk about autism, we aren't so much talking about a single homogeneous condition, but perhaps rather a range of conditions which share some........ Read more »
van Steensel FJ, Bögels SM, & Wood JJ. (2012) Autism Spectrum Traits in Children with Anxiety Disorders. Journal of autism and developmental disorders. PMID: 22733297
- August 14, 2012
- 08:17 PM
- 351 views
Propionic acid and autism
by Paul Whiteley in Questioning Answers
Another post, another organic acid (!) but please don't click away just yet as I attempt once again not to blind you with science. The topic of the day today is propionic acid (PPA) otherwise known as propanoic acid and the very tentative suggestions of some link to autism. Search on-line for propionic acid and you're quite likely to get lots of industrial chemical information about it including a materials safety data sheet (MSDS) (here) implying that this stuff is toxic, combust........ Read more »
El-Ansary AK, Ben Bacha A, & Kotb M. (2012) Etiology of autistic features: the persisting neurotoxic effects of propionic acid. Journal of neuroinflammation, 9(1), 74. PMID: 22531301
- August 10, 2012
- 09:38 AM
- 336 views
Folate and autism: more questions than answers
by Paul Whiteley in Questioning Answers
Athenian sunset @ Paul WhiteleyI don't know if you could tell but my previous few blog posts were a sort of stand-in whilst I took a few days off. Not exactly repeats of favourite soap operas or anything like that, but more like watching some pre-recorded non-league football (soccer) compared to the Premiership live. Suffice to say that I'm back now and ready to press on with some 'proper' posts.Whilst away I've been thinking quite a bit about the paper from Rebecca Schmidt and colleagues* ........ Read more »
Schmidt RJ, Tancredi DJ, Ozonoff S, Hansen RL, Hartiala J, Allayee H, Schmidt LC, Tassone F, & Hertz-Picciotto I. (2012) Maternal periconceptional folic acid intake and risk of autism spectrum disorders and developmental delay in the CHARGE (CHildhood Autism Risks from Genetics and Environment) case-control study. The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 96(1), 80-9. PMID: 22648721
- October 10, 2012
- 11:43 AM
- 327 views
I am not condoning violence...
by Paul Whiteley in Questioning Answers
Mr Bruce Lee @ Wikipedia Name calling, spreading rumours, excluding from social groups, hitting, kicking and taking belongings. Bullying (definition courtesy of the UK National Autistic Society) covers quite a lot of ground.I don't actually know if I had a bully or not at school. I mean, there was this one kid at school who always seemed to have it in for me until that is, one day I snapped (yes, we English are not all watercress sandwiches and afternoon tea) after which the kid in question........ Read more »
Sterzing PR, Shattuck PT, Narendorf SC, Wagner M, & Cooper BP. (2012) Bullying Involvement and Autism Spectrum Disorders: Prevalence and Correlates of Bullying Involvement Among Adolescents With an Autism Spectrum Disorder. Archives of pediatrics , 1-7. PMID: 22945284
- July 12, 2012
- 07:20 AM
- 319 views
Autism and the family tree
by Paul Whiteley in Questioning Answers
A blog post discussing the suggestion that a family history of schizophrenia and/or bipolar disorder may be a risk factor for autism... Read more »
Sullivan PF. et al. (2012) Family history of schizophrenia and bipolar disorder as risk factors for autism. Archives of General Psychiatry. DOI: 10.1001/archgenpsychiatry.2012.730
- September 30, 2012
- 04:49 AM
- 312 views
Pets win (prosocial) prizes?
by Paul Whiteley in Questioning Answers
Miss Ellie Dog @WikipediaPets have never really been a great part of my childhood it has to be said. Aside from a cat allergy which sort of ruled out any would-be Top Cat staying at ours, the family home just wasn't graced with enough space to accommodate other animal companions.I did have a goldfish called George for a short period of time; that is until he/she(?) passed away and went to the great WC in the sky. Sad memories indeed.This lack of animal contact during my childhood is probably why........ Read more »
Grandgeorge M, Tordjman S, Lazartigues A, Lemonnier E, Deleau M, & Hausberger M. (2012) Does pet arrival trigger prosocial behaviors in individuals with autism?. PloS one, 7(8). PMID: 22870246
- October 8, 2012
- 10:02 AM
- 310 views
Vitamin D deficiency and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome
by Paul Whiteley in Questioning Answers
Vitamin D3 @ Wikipedia I have no hesitation in admitting to being more than a little bit "obsessive" about my data capture and the volumes of lovely, yummy science-y research alerts it produces. Indeed quite a bit of said research ends up as fodder for this and its sister blogs but most in the Twitter onslaught which my poor followers have to endure. Yes, I am probably addicted to information (but better this than other vices).One of my alerts is based on the various collected works be........ Read more »
Berkovitz S, Ambler G, Jenkins M, & Thurgood S. (2009) Serum 25-hydroxy vitamin D levels in chronic fatigue syndrome: a retrospective survey. International journal for vitamin and nutrition research. Internationale Zeitschrift fur Vitamin- und Ernahrungsforschung. Journal international de vitaminologie et de nutrition, 79(4), 250-4. PMID: 20209476
- September 28, 2012
- 05:23 PM
- 308 views
Pretend play and autism
by Paul Whiteley in Questioning Answers
A lightsaber in production @ WikipediaI'm leaving the heavy biochemistry of late behind in this post with a link to an interesting paper recently posted on Twitter by Prof. Graham Davey (Twitter: @GrahamCLDavey) reviewing the current evidence on the impact of pretend play on child development*.To quote: "...existing evidence does not support strong causal claims about the unique importance of pretend play for development".Whoa there... pretend play over just play might not be such a vital compon........ Read more »
Lillard AS, Lerner MD, Hopkins EJ, Dore RA, Smith ED, & Palmquist CM. (2012) The Impact of Pretend Play on Children's Development: A Review of the Evidence. Psychological bulletin. PMID: 22905949
- August 20, 2012
- 05:26 AM
- 305 views
Autism and microglia
by Paul Whiteley in Questioning Answers
An interesting paper has appeared by Beumer and colleagues* with the grandiose title: The immune theory of psychiatric diseases: a key role for activated microglia and circulating monocytes. It's an intriguing paper linking specific actions of the immune system on brain areas in connection to various conditions including depression and schizophrenia via a biological entity that seems to be gaining some research interest: microglia.On the basis of this publication I therefore resis........ Read more »
Beumer W, Gibney SM, & Drexhage RC. (2012) The immune theory of psychiatric diseases: a key role for activated microglia and circulating monocytes. J Leukoc Biol. DOI: 10.1189/jlb.0212100
- August 16, 2012
- 05:54 AM
- 302 views
Are gut problems in autism linked to anxiety and sensory issues?
by Paul Whiteley in Questioning Answers
I'd been waiting to get hold of the recent article by Dr Micah Mazurek and colleagues titled: Anxiety, sensory over-responsivity, and gastrointestinal problems in children with autism spectrum disorders* (abstract here) for quite a few days before posting about it.This paper was always going to catch my eye given the focus on gastrointestinal (GI) problems comorbid to cases of autism. That and the authors connecting issues with anxiety and sensory issues to the presence of such functional G........ Read more »
Mazurek MO, Vasa RA, Kalb LG, Kanne SM, Rosenberg D, Keefer A, Murray DS, Freedman B, & Lowery LA. (2012) Anxiety, Sensory Over-Responsivity, and Gastrointestinal Problems in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders. Journal of abnormal child psychology. PMID: 22850932
- November 23, 2012
- 03:15 PM
- 299 views
Stop that phenylalanine now!
by Paul Whiteley in Questioning Answers
I'm going slightly off-piste with this post not strictly related to autism; however remaining true to my interest in all things amino acids, and in particular one of those most interesting aromatic amino acids, phenylalanine.Phenylalanine @ WikipediaA few months back Chemistry World carried a very interesting article by Jon Evans* on how the amino acid phenylalanine might very well have the capacity to form amyloid-like fibrils classically related to conditions like Alzheimers disease. The artic........ Read more »
Adler-Abramovich L, Vaks L, Carny O, Trudler D, Magno A, Caflisch A, Frenkel D, & Gazit E. (2012) Phenylalanine assembly into toxic fibrils suggests amyloid etiology in phenylketonuria. Nature chemical biology. PMID: 22706200
- August 17, 2012
- 06:44 AM
- 297 views
Vitamin D and autoimmunity and autism
by Paul Whiteley in Questioning Answers
Heavens above @ Paul WhiteleyThey're at it again. The very marvellous Saudi-Egyptian autism research tag-team that is Gehan Mostafa and Laila Al-Ayadhi and another very, very interesting article titled: Reduced serum concentrations of 25-hydroxy vitamin D in children with autism: relation to autoimmunity* (full-text here).I'd kinda been waiting for an article like this to come along given the shifting Eye of Sauron onto a possible role for the sunshine vitamin in cases of autism. You can fi........ Read more »
Mostafa G,, & Al-Ayadhi LY. (2012) Reduced serum concentrations of 25-hydroxy vitamin D in children with autism: relation to autoimmunity. Journal of Neuroinflammation. DOI: 10.1186/1742-2094-9-201
- October 28, 2012
- 03:12 PM
- 295 views
Cerebral palsy and autism
by Paul Whiteley in Questioning Answers
I seem to keep saying this but one of the many important things about autism is that the diagnosis of autism has not yet been found to be protective against other conditions occurring alongside. This is probably not new news to many as per the comorbities which have been, and continue to be found in cases of autism; recognised even by official guidance on autism (see here).Importantly however in recent times, more attention is being directed to the overlap of autism with other conditions an........ Read more »
Surén P, Bakken IJ, Aase H, Chin R, Gunnes N, Lie KK, Magnus P, Reichborn-Kjennerud T, Schjølberg S, Øyen AS.... (2012) Autism spectrum disorder, ADHD, epilepsy, and cerebral palsy in Norwegian children. Pediatrics, 130(1). PMID: 22711729
- August 21, 2012
- 05:02 AM
- 294 views
Resurrecting XMRV in Chronic Fatigue Syndrome?
by Paul Whiteley in Questioning Answers
The letters X-M-R-V in relation to Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS) have had their fair share of controversy in recent years. For those who don't know about XMRV - xenotropic murine leukemia virus-related virus - there is ample discussion about this topic on the web or you can browse my past posts covering the story here and here. I'm sure that a feature film or TV mini-series will be made eventually about XMRV and CFS including the back-story of Dr Judy Mikovtis and the whole WPI saga. I'll ........ Read more »
Paolucci S, Piralla A, Zanello C, Minoli L, & Baldanti F. (2012) Xenotropic and polytropic murine leukemia virus-related sequences are not detected in the majority of patients with chronic fatigue syndrome. The new microbiologica, 35(3), 341-4. PMID: 22842604
- December 11, 2012
- 06:49 AM
- 285 views
GcMAF, nagalase and autism
by Paul Whiteley in Questioning Answers
I think it might be worth starting this blog post with (a) reference to my very well-trodden caveat of not making any medical recommendations on this blog and (b) a little bit of a description of some of the key terms connected with the paper by Jeff Bradstree and colleagues* (open-access) on nagalase, GcMAF and autism bearing in mind my amateur status in this area. I might also add, don't shoot the messenger.I'm the big eater @ Wikipedia Macrophages. It all begins with monocytes, whi........ Read more »
James Jeffrey Bradstreet, Emar Vogelaar, & Lynda Thyer. (2012) Initial observations of elevated alpha-N-acetylgalactosaminidase activity associated with autism and observed reductions from GC protein—macrophage activating factor injections. Autism Insights. info:/
- August 23, 2012
- 07:45 AM
- 283 views
De novo mutations, older dads and autism (again)
by Paul Whiteley in Questioning Answers
Those with an interest in autism (and/or schizophrenia) will have probably already seen the headlines discussing the study by Augustine Kong and colleagues* on the rate of de novo genetic mutations and a father's age as being potentially important for conditions like autism and schizophrenia. For those like me who are still struggling with all things mutation, quite a nice summary of the current research is offered in this Nature commentary accompanying the study.I'm going to briefly focus........ Read more »
Augustine Kong,, Michael L. Frigge,, Gisli Masson,, Soren Besenbacher,, Patrick Sulem,, Gisli Magnusson,, Sigurjon A. Gudjonsson,, Asgeir Sigurdsson,, Aslaug Jonasdottir,, Adalbjorg Jonasdottir,.... (2012) Rate of de novo mutations and the importance of father’s age to disease risk. Nature. DOI: 10.1038/nature11396
- September 6, 2012
- 06:48 PM
- 282 views
BCKDK mutations: a treatable form of autism?
by Paul Whiteley in Questioning Answers
The Nature headline reads: Amino-acid deficiency underlies rare form of autism. My interest is piqued. The paper by Novarino and colleagues* suggests "autism presenting with intellectual disability and epilepsy caused by BCKDK mutations represents a potentially treatable syndrome". My interest is most definitely piqued. Hence therefore this very quick post (yeah right!) on some potentially very important results.Let's rewind a bit first. I've talked about amino acids and autism (and schizop........ Read more »
Gaia Novarino1,*,†, Paul El-Fishawy2,*, Hulya Kayserili3, Nagwa A. Meguid4, Eric M. Scott1, Jana Schroth1, Jennifer L. Silhavy1, Majdi Kara5, Rehab O. Khalil4, Tawfeg Ben-Omran6, A. Gulhan Ercan-Sencicek7, Adel F. Hashish4, Stephan J. Sanders7, Abha R. , Hebatalla S Hashem, Dietrich Matern, Stacey Gabriel, Larry Sweetman, Yasmeen Rahimi, Robert A. Harris, Matthew W. State, & Joseph G. Gleeson. (2012) Mutations in BCKD-kinase lead to a potentially treatable form of autism with epilepsy. Science. info:/10.1126/science.1224631
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