Increased serum levels of anti-ganglioside M1 auto-antibodies in autistic children: relation to the disease severity

Mostafa, Al-Ayadhi

Description

Autoimmunity to the central nervous system (CNS) may play a pathogenic role in a subgroup of patients with autism. This study aimed to investigate the frequency of serum anti-ganglioside M1 auto-antibodies, as indicators of the presence of autoimmunity to CNS, in a group of autistic children. We are the first to measure the relationship between these antibodies and the degree of the severity of autism. Methods Serum anti-ganglioside M1 antibodies were measured, by ELISA, in 54 autistic children, aged between 4 and 12 years, in comparison to 54 healthy-matched children. Autistic severity was assessed by using the Childhood Autism Rating Scale (CARS). Results Autistic children had significantly higher serum levels of anti-ganglioside M1 antibodies than healthy children (P < 0.001). The seropositivity of anti-ganglioside M1 antibodies was found in 74% (40/54) of autistic children. Serum levels of anti-ganglioside M1 antibodies were significantly higher in autistic children with severe autism (63%) than those with mild to moderate autism (37%), P = 0.001. Moreover, serum anti-ganglioside M1 antibodies had significant positive correlations with CARS (P < 0.001). Conclusions Serum levels of anti-ganglioside M1 antibodies were increased in many autistic children. Also, their levels had significant positive correlations with the degree of the severity of autism. Thus, autism may be, in part, one of the pediatric autoimmune neuropsychiatric disorders. Further wide-scale studies are warranted to shed light on the possible etiopathogenic role of anti-ganglioside M1 auto-antibodies in autism. The role of immunotherapy in autistic patients who have increased serum levels of anti-ganglioside M1 antibodies should also be studied.

Sujets

• Anti-ganglioside antibodies
• Autism
• Autoimmunity
• Childhood Autism Rating Scale

Informations

• Publié par: biomed
• Publié le: 01 janvier 2011
• Nombre de lectures: 15
• Langue: English

Extrait

Mostafa and ALayadhiJournal of Neuroinflammation2011,8:39 http://www.jneuroinflammation.com/content/8/1/39

JOURNAL OF NEUROINFLAMMATION

R E S E A R C HOpen Access Increased serum levels of antiganglioside M1 autoantibodies in autistic children: relation to the disease severity 1,2*†1† Gehan A Mostafaand Laila Y ALayadhi

Abstract Background:Autoimmunity to the central nervous system (CNS) may play a pathogenic role in a subgroup of patients with autism. This study aimed to investigate the frequency of serum antiganglioside M1 autoantibodies, as indicators of the presence of autoimmunity to CNS, in a group of autistic children. We are the first to measure the relationship between these antibodies and the degree of the severity of autism. Methods:Serum antiganglioside M1 antibodies were measured, by ELISA, in 54 autistic children, aged between 4 and 12 years, in comparison to 54 healthymatched children. Autistic severity was assessed by using the Childhood Autism Rating Scale (CARS). Results:Autistic children had significantly higher serum levels of antiganglioside M1 antibodies than healthy children (P < 0.001). The seropositivity of antiganglioside M1 antibodies was found in 74% (40/54) of autistic children. Serum levels of antiganglioside M1 antibodies were significantly higher in autistic children with severe autism (63%) than those with mild to moderate autism (37%), P = 0.001. Moreover, serum antiganglioside M1 antibodies had significant positive correlations with CARS (P < 0.001). Conclusions:Serum levels of antiganglioside M1 antibodies were increased in many autistic children. Also, their levels had significant positive correlations with the degree of the severity of autism. Thus, autism may be, in part, one of the pediatric autoimmune neuropsychiatric disorders. Further widescale studies are warranted to shed light on the possible etiopathogenic role of antiganglioside M1 autoantibodies in autism. The role of immunotherapy in autistic patients who have increased serum levels of antiganglioside M1 antibodies should also be studied. Keywords:antiganglioside antibodies autism, autoimmunity, Childhood Autism Rating Scale

Background Autism is a severe neurodevelopmental disorder that is characterized by impairment in verbal and nonverbal communication, imagination and reciprocal social interaction. The prevalence of autism has surged in recent years. The etiology of autism is not well under stood. Autism may occur as a result of exposure to environmental factors in the presence of genetic pre disposition [1].

* Correspondence: [e-mail] †Contributed equally 1 Autism Research and Treatment Center, ALAmodi Autism Research Chair, Department of Physiology, Faculty of Medicine, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia Full list of author information is available at the end of the article

A possible role of immune system abnormalities in the pathogenesis of some neurologic disorders, including autism, was recently postulated. Autoimmunity to the central nervous system (CNS) is the commonest of these abnormalities [2,3]. The most important clue for the possible role of autoimmunity in autism is the pre sence of brainspecific autoantibodies in many autistic children [3,4]. Other clues for the occurrence of autoim munity in autism include; the increase of autoimmune disorders among autistic families [59]. Also, there is a strong association between autism and the major histo compatibility complex for the null allele of C4B in class III region. This results in low production of C4B protein leading to repeated infections which play an important role in the development of autoimmunity [10,11]. In

© 2011 Mostafa and ALayadhi; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.