Posts

June 17, 2013

+

2:35 PM | Autoimmune disease as a risk factor for mood disorder?

Autoimmunity, the process by which the immune system fails to recognise self as self and subsequently targets those self tissues and cells, is something talked about quite a lot on this blog with autism specifically in mind. Part of the very wide and diverse immune-related features which have been discussed with at least some of the autisms in mind, it's not yet altogether clear exactly how and why autoimmunity is linked to behaviour but the association is an interesting one.Sally? @ […]

Benros ME, Waltoft BL, Nordentoft M, Ostergaard SD, Eaton WW, Krogh J & Mortensen PB (2013). Autoimmune Diseases and Severe Infections as Risk Factors for Mood Disorders: A Nationwide Study., JAMA psychiatry (Chicago, Ill.), 1-9. PMID: 23760347

Citation

June 15, 2013

+

1:10 PM | Autism, fetal alcohol syndrome and thyroid hormone?

Alcohol is the drug of choice for many people these days. For most, it's a case of the odd glass of wine here or there or a beer whilst sat outside in the garden during the summer we're supposed to be basking in at the moment.The grape @ Wikipedia But there is no getting away from the fact that alcohol is a drug, and by all accounts, a drug which very readily impacts on the lives of many, many people. Outside of all the social ills associated with excessive alcohol consumption, there […]

Tunc-Ozcan E, Ullmann TM, Shukla PK & Redei EE (2013). Low-Dose Thyroxine Attenuates Autism-Associated Adverse Effects of Fetal Alcohol in Male Offspring's Social Behavior and Hippocampal Gene Expression., Alcoholism, clinical and experimental research, PMID: 23763370

Citation

June 13, 2013

+

7:16 AM | The Autism Impact Measure and more

It's the usual excuse from me, "the dog ate my homework sir", no not that one, the one about me having a busy week so not being able to post a particularly detailed blog entry this time around. Indeed although there is the usual plethora of research material to pick from, only a few studies have really caught me eye so far this week. But those studies are pretty interesting....Must try harder @ Wikipedia I'm starting with the paper by Stephen Kanne and colleagues* and their […]

Kanne, S., Mazurek, M., Sikora, D., Bellando, J., Branum-Martin, L., Handen, B., Katz, T., Freedman, B., Powell, M. & Warren, Z. & (2013). The Autism Impact Measure (AIM): Initial Development of a New Tool for Treatment Outcome Measurement, Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, DOI: 10.1007/s10803-013-1862-3

Citation

June 10, 2013

+

8:39 AM | Asthma increases risk of ADHD?

Asthma increasing the risk of ADHD? With a title like that derived from the paper by Mu-Hong Chen and colleagues* I couldn't resist posting an entry about it. Indeed the paper has one or two of the elements that I've come to love over my couple of years of blogging; in that we have two seemingly disparate conditions - one physiological, one behavioural - yet within the confines of the old 'correlation does not equal causation' quote, some possibility of a connection.Breathe @ Wikipedia […]

Chen MH, Su TP, Chen YS, Hsu JW, Huang KL, Chang WH, Chen TJ & Bai YM (2013). Asthma and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder: a nationwide population-based prospective cohort study., Journal of child psychology and psychiatry, and allied disciplines, PMID: 23730913

Citation

June 07, 2013

+

8:49 AM | Autism, the ketogenic diet and Dangermouse

I'm proud of my quite 'unusual' area of autism research interest focused primarily on whether diet might, in some way, shape or form, be linked to or impact on some cases of the autisms. It's not been a particularly popular area of research down the years it has to be said. Most of which I've put down to its links to areas far outside of the behavioural dyad (as its known these days). That and all the gastrointestinal (GI) baggage inevitably associated with diets like the gluten- and […]

Ruskin, D., Svedova, J., Cote, J., Sandau, U., Rho, J., Kawamura, M., Boison, D. & Masino, S. (2013). Ketogenic Diet Improves Core Symptoms of Autism in BTBR Mice, PLoS ONE, 8 (6) DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0065021

Citation

June 04, 2013

+

8:34 AM | Toe walking and autism

Whilst grazing, as one does, on the plains of the Internet savanna, I stumbled across an interesting article by Williams and colleagues* (open-access) describing a protocol for a study looking at toe walking. As what normally happens with me, memories of autism research times gone by started to flood back, culminating with the question: what ever happened to research looking at toe walking in cases of autism?En Pointe @ Wikipedia Going back quite a few years now, I remembered one occasion […]

Barrow WJ, Jaworski M & Accardo PJ (2011). Persistent toe walking in autism., Journal of child neurology, 26 (5) 619-21. PMID: 21285033

Citation

June 01, 2013

+

8:34 AM | Epidermal growth factor and autism continued

I've talked before about epidermal growth factor (EGF) in relation to autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) on this blog. In that entry (see here) the suggestion was that plasma levels of EGF were 'generally' (and I use the word very loosely) reported to be lower in grouped cases of ASD.Backing up a little, EGF is as its name suggests, a fairly abundant growth factor involved in various cell growth. Obviously that description of its function covers quite a lot of ground, so let me then focus your […]

Russo AJ (2013). Decreased Epidermal Growth Factor (EGF) Associated with HMGB1 and Increased Hyperactivity in Children with Autism., Biomarker insights, 8 35-41. PMID: 23645980

Citation

May 29, 2013

+

7:57 AM | Impulsivity and uric acid

A few years back I posted about an interesting body of research on purine metabolism in relation to the autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) and how some work from the likes of Mary Coleman and Ted Page had reported high levels of uric acid to be coincidentally present in cases of ASD.The gout @ Wikipedia As with other research angles, the initial interest in this finding of hyperuricosuria - elevated urinary uric acid - and autism did not seem to last. Just like the dusty research […]

Sutin AR, Cutler RG, Camandola S, Uda M, Feldman NH, Cucca F, Zonderman AB, Mattson MP, Ferrucci L, Schlessinger D & Terracciano A (2013). Impulsivity is Associated with Uric Acid: Evidence from Humans and Mice., Biological psychiatry, PMID: 23582268

Citation

May 26, 2013

+

8:27 AM | More on urinary metabolomics in autism research

The -omics. Y'know all those new-fangled disciplines which have sprung up to describe how sciences looks at genes, bacteria, etc. We used to call it plain old scientific analysis, but now depending on what your sample medium or technology or your target species is, its been rebranded and repackaged as an -omic.Shepherdess @ Wikipedia I've talked about a few of the -omics quite a bit on this blog and their relationship to systems biology; ranging from microbiomics (studying bacteria) to […]

Emond P, Mavel S, Aïdoud N, Nadal-Desbarats L, Montigny F, Bonnet-Brilhault F, Barthélémy C, Merten M, Sarda P, Laumonnier F & Vourc'h P (2013). GC-MS-based urine metabolic profiling of autism spectrum disorders., Analytical and bioanalytical chemistry, PMID: 23571465

Mavel, S., Nadal-Desbarats, L., Blasco, H., Bonnet-Brilhault, F., Barthélémy, C., Montigny, F., Sarda, P., Laumonnier, F., Vourc′h, P., Andres, C. & Emond, P. (2013). 1H–13C NMR-based urine metabolic profiling in autism spectrum disorders, Talanta, 114 95-102. DOI: 10.1016/j.talanta.2013.03.064

Citation

May 23, 2013

+

8:33 AM | Big data for autism and the promise of newborn bloodspots

An episode of the BBC program Horizon on 'Big Data' recently caught my attention. The content was a fascinating insight into how we are living in a data-rich age and how trawling/mining/dredging such data has the ability to advance medicine, predict crime and even make someone a few quid/dollars/euros on the stock market.Gone (data) fishing @ Wikipedia I'm a big believer in big data. In particular how, with the right sources, technology, techniques and people, big data might be able […]

Mizejewski GJ, Lindau-Shepard B & Pass KA (2013). Newborn screening for autism: in search of candidate biomarkers., Biomarkers in medicine, 7 (2) 247-60. PMID: 23547820

Citation

May 21, 2013

+

10:15 AM | Gut bacteria determines social development? Psychobacteriomics?

The paper by Desbonnet and colleagues* (open-access) asks some intriguing questions about how our gut bacteria - those trillions of passengers which we all carry in our deepest, darkest recesses - might have the propensity to affect the behavioural development of a mouse specifically focused on social development.Whilst to some people this might not sound like a particularly exciting finding, to others such a suggestion might potentially signal the start of a whole new way of looking at how our […]

May 20, 2013

+

7:59 AM | Autism, plasma cytokines and siblings

I'm gonna try and be fairly brief in this post on the paper by Valerio Napolioni and colleagues* (open-access) looking at plasma cytokine profiles in cases of autism and their asymptomatic siblings. Brief because (a) the paper is open-access and (b) the participant groups (autism: n=25; sibling controls n=25) were relatively small so one has to be quite careful in extrapolating the findings with any large degree of confidence.Siblings by Paul Klee @ WikiPaintings Just in case you are […]

Napolioni V, Ober-Reynolds B, Szelinger S, Corneveaux JJ, Pawlowski T, Ober-Reynolds S, Kirwan J, Persico AM, Melmed RD, Craig DW & Smith CJ (2013). Plasma cytokine profiling in sibling pairs discordant for autism spectrum disorder., Journal of neuroinflammation, 10 38. PMID: 23497090

Citation

May 18, 2013

+

9:33 AM | Darth DSM-5 and autism

Blue Harvest @ Wikipedia @ Family GuyI need to create a suitable atmosphere for this post, so try this music for size and think Blue Harvest...Right. The wait is over. The discussions / arguments / objections / agreements are all confined to history. Drum roll, spotlight centre-stage... enter DSM-5 and into unknown territory we all go, particularly with autism, sorry.. autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) in mind.As you can see from the link above to the new diagnostic guidelines from the […]

Lai M-C, Lombardo MV, Chakrabarti B & Baron-Cohen S (2013). Subgrouping the Autism “Spectrum": Reflections on DSM-5, PLoS Biology, Other: Link

Citation

May 16, 2013

+

8:00 AM | Meta-analysing MTHFR and autism

I told you so.I'm talking about the paper by Pu and colleagues* who meta-analysed the currently available literature looking at two SNPs in everyone's favourite Scrabble classic gene, MTHFR in relation to autism spectrum disorders (ASDs). Said gene controls production of methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) which fits very snugly into the whole one carbon metabolism cycle (see here).Love at first sight? @ Wikipedia Regular readers might know that I have a […]

Pu D, Shen Y & Wu J (2013). Association between MTHFR Gene Polymorphisms and the Risk of Autism Spectrum Disorders: A Meta-Analysis., Autism research : official journal of the International Society for Autism Research, PMID: 23653228

Citation

May 14, 2013

+

8:04 PM | RDoC and the cross-roads of psychiatry

The Irish poet Brendan Behan is, I think, credited with the phrase: "There's no bad publicity except an obituary". One wonders how appropriate this phrase might be to the 'diagnostic Bible' (except that it isn't) which is DSM-V which is poised to make its entrance into the World in the coming days.The real Homer @ Wikipedia Indeed, the story of DSM-V even before it hits the diagnostic shelves of all good psychiatric bookshops, has the makings of an epic piece of poetry or literature, […]

Ian B Hickie1, Jan Scott, Daniel F Hermens, Elizabeth M Scott, Sharon L Naismith, Adam J Guastella, Nick Glozier & Patrick D McGorry (2013). Clinical classification in mental health at the cross-roads: which direction next?, BMC Medicine, 11 126. Other: Link

Citation

+

1:50 PM | Akkermansia muci... muciniphila and diet induced obesity

It just rolls off the tongue: Akkermansia muciniphila*. As we speak A.muciniphila is making headlines across the world based on the study by Amandine Everard and colleagues** (open-access) on what happened to mice who had or were lacking in this stalwart of the gut microbiome.No need for me to go into great detail about the Everard trial because (a) the paper is open-access and (b) it's already received plenty of coverage as per an entry in Nature (see here) and the National […]

May 12, 2013

+

10:51 AM | An interesting case report on autism and diet

Nodding syndrome.Ever heard of it? Well, up until a few days ago I hadn't. That is before coming across articles on the topic by Richard Idro and colleagues* (open-access) and Angelina Kakooza-Mwesige and colleagues** (open-access). Whilst not specifically my line of expertise or interest, I was intrigued to read about how nodding and other symptoms of the epileptic variety, at least in some cases, seemed to be precipitated by food and showed a potential nutritional angle.Curving […]

Herbert, M. & Buckley, J. (2013). Autism and Dietary Therapy: Case Report and Review of the Literature, Journal of Child Neurology, DOI: 10.1177/0883073813488668

Citation

May 10, 2013

+

7:44 AM | Depression or antidepressant use linked to C.diff infection?

"There's no mystical energy field that controls my destiny". So said a very sceptical Han Solo.Regular readers might know that I'm a bit of fan of the whole gut-brain axis; indeed other kinds of axes too. I know that to some it might sound a bit daft that what goes on in our deepest, darkest bowels might actually have some important effects on the operations of the grey-pinkish matter floating around in skull central - and vice-versa - but nonetheless it interests me. The gastrointestinal […]

Rogers, M., Greene, M., Young, V., Saint, S., Langa, K., Kao, J. & Aronoff, D. (2013). Depression, antidepressant medications, and risk of Clostridium difficile infection, BMC Medicine, 11 (1) 121. DOI: 10.1186/1741-7015-11-121

Citation

May 08, 2013

+

12:27 PM | Gluten exclusion for cases of diarrhoea predominant IBS

If I had the intellect I would try and deliver this very concise entry in the form of a witty poem or ditty just to try and make things a little more entertaining for readers rather than enduring yet another dry excuse for not making a proper "chatty" post. Unfortunately, I am to poetry what chocolate is to teapot material, so won't even try.Instead I offer a link to a potentially very, very interesting trial by Maria Vazquez–Roque and colleagues* (open-access) reporting physiological […]

+

8:35 AM | Does melatonin affect leaky gut? Relevance to autism

Shocker alert: medicines might have more effects than those listed on the patient information leaflet.I like being surprised. I particularly like being surprised about medicines and health, and how many of the medicines which even reside in the typical household medicines cabinet* might carry the potential to do so much more than that listed on the package insert. Leaking? @ Wikipedia Take for example the recent paper I bumped into by Sommansson and colleagues** continuing their […]

Sommansson A, Wan Saudi WS, Nylander O & Sjöblom M (2013). Melatonin inhibits alcohol-induced increases in duodenal mucosal permeability in rats in vivo., American journal of physiology. Gastrointestinal and liver physiology, PMID: 23639810

Citation

May 06, 2013

+

8:36 AM | The ESSENCE of autism comorbidity?

Like Charlie Bucket looking through the sweet shop window at the delicious chocolates produced by the workforce of a certain Mr Willy Wonka (the candyman no less), I am always quite interested in the goings-on at the IMFAR autism research conference. The candyman can... @ Wikipedia This year (2013) proved to be a bit of a vintage, as once again the great and the good presented their Wonka bars of autism research; thus hinting at the direction of future autism research and what […]

Höglund Carlsson, L., Norrelgen, F., Kjellmer, L., Westerlund, J., Gillberg, C. & Fernell, E. (2013). Coexisting Disorders and Problems in Preschool Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders, The Scientific World Journal, 2013 1-6. DOI: 10.1155/2013/213979

Citation

May 04, 2013

+

7:30 AM | Surgery following self-injurious behaviour

Discussions on self-injurious behaviour (SIB) or auto-aggression are not normally for the faint-hearted.Indeed, as I intimated on a previous post on SIB and autism, when such behaviours are witnessed in children and young adults - even older adults, one does wonder what the effects might be not only on the person themselves but also on a parent or a sibling as they watch their own flesh and blood banging their head on a wall or pulling their hair out or trying to gouge their eyes out. I can't […]

Sisk RA, Motley WW 3rd, Yang MB & West CE (2013). Surgical outcomes following repair of traumatic retinal detachments in cognitively impaired adolescents with self-injurious behavior., Journal of pediatric ophthalmology and strabismus, 50 (1) 20-6. PMID: 23061560

Citation

May 01, 2013

+

6:08 PM | Autism research at IMFAR 2013

"Kaixo!" That's hello by the way in Basque, or at least I think it is.The beautiful Basque Country is currently welcoming the 2013 IMFAR conference and its delegates to its shores, as once again one of the premier autism research conferences brings together the minds (and souls) of many an autism researcher.San Sebastian @ Wikipedia As per my previous posts on the IMFAR conference series - the 2011 conference and 2012 conference - hopes are high that more advances are being made into the […]

April 30, 2013

+

10:05 PM | Lyme and soda: hold the autism risk?

I've talked about the mighty tick previously on this blog and some speculation on how a tick harbouring the bacteria Borrelia burgdorferi (or a close relation) bites and transmits said bacteria to humans which can lead to Lyme disease and whether this might be implicated in some cases of autism. Tickety boo @ Wikipedia The suggestion from that post was that whilst the data was speculative and relatively sparse at that time on whether Lyme disease is common in cases of […]

Citation

April 29, 2013

+

2:02 PM | Autism and the folding placenta

Men don't generally talk about placentas it has to be said. But today, in the name of blogging, I'm going to.I'm going to start by telling you how the placenta really is a marvel of biological engineering. An absolutely vital part of our existence in-utero that nourishes us and protects us during our earliest days living in the amniotic sac. Little wonder that whole nations have come to revere the placenta as mother, sibling even doubles of ourselves (see here). Although I have to say I do […]

Walker, C., Anderson, K., Milano, K., Ye, S., Tancredi, D., Pessah, I., Hertz-Picciotto, I. & Kliman, H. (2013). Trophoblast Inclusions Are Significantly Increased in the Placentas of Children in Families at Risk for Autism, Biological Psychiatry, DOI: 10.1016/j.biopsych.2013.03.006

Citation

April 27, 2013

+

10:37 AM | A vaccine for autism symptoms? Not exactly

"Vaccine". "Autism".I'm struggling to think of two words in combination which, in modern times, are any more likely to stir up emotion, debate and even argument. Indeed in these times of measles outbreaks and seemingly daily news reporting on the very, very strong requirement for vaccination to protect against the disease, it is coincidental that two research papers should now land in my inbox which mention both of those words in the title.Paradise in Zakynthos @ Wikipedia The […]

Pequegnat B, Sagermann M, Valliani M, Toh M, Chow H, Allen-Vercoe E & Monteiro MA (2013). A vaccine and diagnostic target for Clostridium bolteae, an autism-associated bacterium., Vaccine, PMID: 23602537

Citation

April 25, 2013

+

9:22 AM | Prenatal valproate exposure and autism: reloaded

When does the the term 'correlation does not equal causation' become a moot point? It's a question I've often pondered, having discussed the issue quite a few times on this blog for all manner of correlations and associations linked to autism (sorry, the autisms).The weight of the heart @ Wikipedia Is there, for example, a recognised tipping point where the weight of evidence correlating A with B might actually lead to the consensus that A causes B either wholly or partially?Yes, I […]

Jakob Christensen, Therese Koops Grønborg, Merete Juul Sørensen, Diana Schendel, Erik Thorlund Parner, Lars Henning Pedersen & Mogens Vestergaard (2013). Prenatal Valproate Exposure and Risk of Autism Spectrum Disorders and Childhood Autism, JAMA, Other: Link

Citation

April 23, 2013

+

12:33 PM | Autism and the methylome

Q: When is an identical twin not an identical twin? A: Pretty much all the time (at least according to some people) as our increasing understanding of the complexity of genetics stretches and modifies long-held beliefs about the building blocks of life and their role in our health and wellbeing.DNA methylation differences? @ Wikipedia Today I'm talking about identical (monozygotic) twins - siblings derived from one fertilised egg - and how the science of epigenetics might have […]

Wong, C., Meaburn, E., Ronald, A., Price, T., Jeffries, A., Schalkwyk, L., Plomin, R. & Mill, J. (2013). Methylomic analysis of monozygotic twins discordant for autism spectrum disorder and related behavioural traits, Molecular Psychiatry, DOI: 10.1038/mp.2013.41

Citation

April 21, 2013

+

7:43 AM | All eyes on minocycline

Minocycline, the tetracycline antibiotic, is probably not something that most people would traditionally link with autism or conditions presenting with autism-like behaviours. Indeed, the suggestion that antibiotics or antimicrobials if you prefer, may be able to modify either the behaviour or linked biochemistry of the autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) or even influence the onset and expression of ASD is quite frankly a little bit unusual.Minocycline (for chemists) @ Wikipedia But unusual […]

Leigh, M., Nguyen, D., Mu, Y., Winarni, T., Schneider, A., Chechi, T., Polussa, J., Doucet, P., Tassone, F., Rivera, S. & Hessl, D. (2013). A Randomized Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Trial of Minocycline in Children and Adolescents with Fragile X Syndrome, Journal of Developmental & Behavioral Pediatrics, 34 (3) 147-155. DOI: 10.1097/DBP.0b013e318287cd17

Citation

April 17, 2013

+

9:19 AM | Autism, the autisms or "developmental brain dysfunction"?

"If you've met one person with autism, you've met one person with autism" so the oft-cited phrase goes. The implication is that whilst unified under the label of presenting with the triad/dyad characteristics of an autism spectrum condition, the heterogeneity present across the spectrum coupled with other comorbidity, allied to factors such as genes, personality, temperament, maturation, environment et al, mean that everyone is different and importantly everyone is dynamic.Umbrella under […]

Whitehouse AJ & Stanley FJ (2013). Is autism one or multiple disorders?, The Medical journal of Australia, 198 (6) 302-3. PMID: 23545020

Moreno-De-Luca A, Myers SM, Challman TD, Moreno-De-Luca D, Evans DW & Ledbetter DH (2013). Developmental brain dysfunction: revival and expansion of old concepts based on new genetic evidence., Lancet neurology, 12 (4) 406-14. PMID: 23518333

Citation

June 17, 2013

June 15, 2013

June 13, 2013

June 10, 2013

June 07, 2013

June 04, 2013

June 01, 2013

May 29, 2013

May 26, 2013

May 23, 2013

May 21, 2013

May 20, 2013

May 18, 2013

May 16, 2013

May 14, 2013

May 12, 2013

May 10, 2013

May 08, 2013

May 06, 2013

May 04, 2013

May 01, 2013

April 30, 2013

April 29, 2013

April 27, 2013

April 25, 2013

April 23, 2013

April 21, 2013

April 17, 2013

Posts with Citations

User Activity