Antineuronal antibodies in autistic children: relation to blood mercury

INTRODUCTION Autism is a severe neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by impaired communication, social interaction and imagination that is often accompanied by repetitive and stereotyped behavior. It develops before the 36 month of age and persists into adulthood causing life long disability. The prevalence of autism has surged in recent years. The etiology and pathogenesis of autism is not well understood. In view of the possible multifactorial cause, autism can occur as a result of environmental neurotoxicant mercury (Hg) exposure in presence of genetic predisposition. Several sources of toxic Hg exposure in children have been reported in literature: (1) ethyl mercury, which has been the subject of recent scientific inquiry in relation to the controversial pediatric vaccine preservative thimerosal; (2) methyl mercury, is most commonly the result of consumption of contaminated food, particularly fish; (3) inorganic Hg, through the use of topical Hg-based skin creams and in infant teething powders; (4) metalic Hg in dental amalgams, which release Hg vapors. In 2006, Palmer and associates reported that for each 1.000 Ib of environmentally released Hg, there was a 61% increase in the rate of autism. Thus, a logic step is to identify the source of Hg exposure in the child population and consider prevention and control of environmental pollution. Recently, thimerosal was removed from the vaccines in USA, but it is still present in developing countries. However, the issue of the risk of vaccination remains a philosophical one, since to date, the advantage of this policy have not been refuted, while the risk for autoimmune disease has Original article