Autism 2002 : Mercury, Heavy Metals... Toxicity AUTOIMMUNE PATHOGENESIS IN AUTISM

More than one million Americans suffer from autism spectrum disorders that also include an estimated one-half million people, mainly children, with a clinical diagnosis of autism. The disorder is identified not by a specific pathology but by behavioral manifestations. It is now generally believed that genetics are likely to explain no more than 10% of all autistic cases while the remainder 90% of cases is sporadic having a non-genetic etiology, and autoimmunity has a strong prospect for finding a cause and treatment of autism today. Since we developed the idea of autism as an autoimmune disorder, we are now probing autoimmunity as a prime target of drug development for autism (1-5). Autism is generally considered to be a multi-factorial disorder. Causally speaking, immune factors, neurochemical factors, genetic susceptibility factors, and environmental factors such as viral infections have been implicated. I view autism as a very complex disorder, in which autoimmunity plays a central role. In my presentation, I will describe the role of autoimmune pathogenesis and immune therapy for autism. I have studied autism as an autoimmune disorder, in which neuro-autoimmune factors may lead to central nervous system (CNS) pathology. The essence of my hypothesis* (see below) is that the virusinduced autoimmunity to developing brain myelin may impair the anatomical development of neural pathways in children. This is mainly because there is a strong evidence to suggest that the speed of neural transmission depends essentially on structural properties of the insulating myelin sheath, connecting nerve fibers and axon diameter. Briefly, I hypothesized that an autoimmune reaction to brain structures, in particular the myelin sheath, plays a critical role in causing the neurological impairments in individuals with autism. Furthermore, I suggested that an immune insult after a natural infection or vaccination might cause "nicks" or small changes in the myelin sheath. These anatomical changes could ultimately lead to lifelong disturbances of higher mental functions such as learning, memory, communication, social interaction, etc. We have identified certain viral and autoimmune factors that led me to develop a speculative “Neuroautoimmunity Model of Autism” that I will discuss in my presentation. I think that autism can be treated successfully using some of the therapies proven effective in treating other autoimmune diseases; however, we need to identify and fully characterize autoimmune pathology of autism. Specifically, I am exploring the role of autoimmune factors (e.g., viruses, autoantibodies, T cells, and cytokines) because they are the well-known targets of therapy with immunomodulating agents. Thus I will focus on immune therapies for purposes of restoring brain function in autistic people through immunology.