Biopeer

Researchers claim to treat autism with ‘love hormone’

Recent findings by researchers at Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York City, suggest preliminary evidence that oxytocin, a brain chemical, could be used for treating patients suffering from autism. A study, involving the intravenous and nasal administering of oxytocin to adults with autism spectrum disorders, resulted in improving the ability of autistic patients to identify emotions and reduction in characteristic autistic repetitive behavior. The effect of oxytocin on patients suffering from autism sustained for two weeks, but researchers have not confirmed the diagnostic application of oxytocin, dubbed as ‘love hormone’.

Researchers at Yale University School of Medicine have discovered that toddlers with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD) spent most of the time examining the eyes of people in photographs. Study involved an eye-tracking system to evaluate toddlers’ visual scanning patterns and their recognition of faces and abstract patterns. Ironical to the visibility disorder, the current finding of ASD toddlers fixing their eyes on photographs might usher-in a new vision therapy for treating ASD. “This is a surprising finding, given that avoiding eye contact is one of the classic hallmarks of autism,” said Katarzyna Chawarska, assistant professor at the Yale Child Study Center.

University of Iowa researchers have come-up with advanced research on the deletions in a gene called neurexin 1, which causes two cases of autism in one family. Research provides that deletion in the father’s sperm cells in the gestation period, results in the passage of the chromosome, with a missing piece of DNA containing neurexin 1, to the children. This deletion disrupts the formation of proteins, thereby upsetting glutamate synapses and leading to abnormal brain development. Researchers feel that the identification of how deletions function might give way to diagnostic research and therapeutic tools related to autism.

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Autism links to parents' age

American researchers, after an extensive study, have reached the conclusion that autism in a child is linked to the parent’s age. They analyzed 132,844 children, born at the Kaiser Permanente hospitals in California, between 1995 and 1999. Of these children, 593 had the autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Their investigations showed that women over 40 years of age, were 30 per cent more likely, and men over the age of 40, were 50 per cent more likely, to give birth to an autistic child. The researchers suspect a link between the increase in the mutations in the sperm cells of older men and the autism risk. Further investigations need to be held in order to get a clearer picture.

Meanwhile, scientists have narrowed down on a routine procedure that could help in the early diagnosis of autism. Researchers from the University of California examined both healthy babies and those with a high autism risk. All the healthy babies, at the age of one, answered to their name, the first or second time. However, only 86 per cent of the babies at risk cleared this ‘name test’. At the age of two, 75 per cent of the babies at risk who failed the ‘name test’ were found to have developmental problems. Of those who were diagnosed with autism at a later stage, half had failed the name test in the first year. The researchers emphasized that this test cannot be relied on as the only way to detect autism. Other factors, such as eye contact, pointing and showing, may also indicate autism, which is usually detected only after three years of age.

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Brain research takes a few steps forward

Researchers from the University of Washington, USA, have found that autism is connected to the inept communication system between different parts of the brain. A study of EEG (electroencephalography) of 36 adults, half of whom were autistic, revealed that the brain cell connection patterns in the temporal lobe were abnormal in the case of autistic adults. According to Dr Michael Murias, team leader, the poorly coordinated neural activity showed weak internal communication between different parts of the brain.

Meanwhile, researchers at the Weill Cornell Medical College in New York, Cleveland Clinic in Ohio and JFK Johnson Rehabilitation Institute in Edison, New Jersey, have pioneered a technique that could restore certain abilities in semi conscious head trauma victims. The technique, known as deep-brain stimulation, was successfully tried on one patient. The patient’s ability to move, respond and function significantly improved after six months’ treatment. The technique is a landmark achievement with the potential to help thousands of others in a similar state.

In a separate incident, the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved the expanded use of Aricept. Aricept (donepezil hydrochloride) can now be used to treat severe dementia in patients with Alzheimer's Disease (AD). The approval was granted on the basis of two randomized, placebo-controlled clinical studies conducted in Sweden and Japan. The trials lasting for 24 weeks each involved more than 500 patients with severe AD. An evaluation of the patients’ cognitive functions as well as their overall functioning found that the drug helped the patients to perform better when compared to those on a placebo.

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Autism more pervasive than thought

Two independent studies may enable those who teach and care for autistic children to help them to learn and function better.

Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine have found that children with autism showed signs of abnormal blood-vessel function and harmful levels of oxidative stress compared to healthy children. The researchers, led by Domenico Pratico, MD, Associate Professor of Pharmacology, compared the urine samples of 26 autistic children with those of 12 healthy children. They measured isoprostane, a biomarker for oxidative stress; thromboxane, an index of platelet activation; and prostacyclin, a measure of blood vessel activation in the samples. They found that children with autism had significantly higher levels of these three in their urine. The researchers hope that this correlation between oxidative stress and blood vessel function in autistic patients may help scientists find new therapeutic options for this syndrome.

Meanwhile, a study funded by the US National Institutes of Health (NIH) has proved that autism is not limited to merely communication, social behavior, and reasoning but actually affects the functioning of the entire brain. The study compared 56 autistic children with 56 children who did not have the condition. All the children were between the ages of eight and 15. It found that autism could affect sensory perception, movement and memory because it hampers different parts of the brain from working together and achieving complex tasks. That is why the autistic children performed very well in visual and spatial skills tests and were very good at spelling and grammar but found it difficult to understand complex figures of speech like idioms or even tie their shoelaces. Despite its limitations, the study has been widely hailed.

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Positive avian flu developments and a new outbreak in Indonesia

Roche, a Swiss pharmaceutical firm and Aspen Pharmacare, Africa’s top generic drug firm have teamed up to create a generic version of the bird flu drug oseltamivir, popularly known as Tamiflu. Roche will provide the active pharmaceutical ingredient- oseltamivir, to Aspen. The signing of the new deal is aimed to speed up the production of the drug and increase its availability and thus help governments and non-profit organizations in the African sub-continent to tackle any sudden bird flu outbreak. No details on the financial aspects of the deal have been disclosed by either party.

Japan-based Sanyo Electric Co has discovered an antivirus technology using electrolyzed water that promises to reduce the number of H5 viruses by a considerable percentage. In a joint-research venture with Tottori University the effectiveness of the propounded technology was examined by two ways. In the first process, the viruses were passed through a filter impregnated with electrolyzed water, while in the second method a cotton bud smeared with the virus was sprayed with electrolyzed water. The observation derived at the end of the study revealed that in both cases the number of H5 viruses was reduced by 99 per cent. Sanyo has already implemented this technology in its new line of products. It has concrete plans to increase the lineup and launch more products in the overseas market.

Bird flu has been detected in the easternmost province of Papua in Indonesia. Preliminary investigations on the fowls revealed the existence of bird flu, inciting fears that the disease is paving its way to South Pacific and Australia.

A link between released mercury and autism in children? Another Silent Spring...

As seen in the past (e.g., the drawn-out saga of establishing a connection between cigarettes and lung cancer), finding a sure link between an environmental toxin and a particular illness can be immensely difficult. That’s why studies like one appearing in the Elsevier journal "Health & Place" are so crucial. While its authors, from the University of Texas Health Science Center and Our Lady of the Lake University, say this is but one in a series – on its own, just a drop in the bucket -- their investigation yielded a county-by-county association between high emission rates of mercury from coal-fired power plants & mercury mines and the rate of autism in school districts in Texas. Where concentrations of mercury were highest, the autism rate was highest. While this geographical cross-sectional study cannot get at cause-and-effect, the authors’ future plans are to hammer down more details, such as the actual distances between the power plants and mercury mines to the school districts in which autism rates are highest among special-ed students.

Meanwhile, an extensive study of Northeastern US and eastern Canada released in March and financed by the U.S. Dept of Agriculture, found much higher levels of mercury in the terrain and in wildlife such as fish, loons, mink, and birds, including bald eagles, than previously charted – "alarmingly high," as one reporter noted.

With society plagued by a host of inexplicable neurologic problems – autism, MS, ALS, to name a few – shouldn’t cracking the mystery of how much the poisons we throw upon our environment are to blame be at the top of our nation’s agenda? Rachel Carson’s book may be a classic, but here we are again, at the start of another Silent Spring.

– Ann Parson, author of "The Proteus Effect; Stem Cells & Their Promise for Medicine"