Excerpt:
“Elevation in peripheral oxidative stress is consistent with, and may contribute to, the more severe functional impairments in the ASD-GID group. With unique medical, metabolic, and behavioral features in children with ASD-GID, the present findings serve as a compelling rationale for both individualized approaches to clinical care and integrated studies of biomarker enrichment in ASD subgroups that may better address the complex etiology of ASD.”

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  • July 3, 2013

Excerpts:
“In addition, we report significant correlations between DNA methylation and quantitatively measured autistic trait scores across our sample cohort. This study represents the first systematic epigenomic analyses of MZ twins discordant for ASD and implicates a role for altered DNA methylation in autism.”

“These findings concur with mounting data suggesting that environmentally mediated effects on the epigenome may be relatively common and important for disease.”

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  • April 23, 2013

Excerpt:
“In young children, a highly significant correlation exists between the number of pediatric aluminum-adjuvanted vaccines administered and the rate of autism spectrum disorders. Many of the features of aluminum-induced neurotoxicity may arise, in part, from autoimmune reactions, as part of the ASIA syndrome.”

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  • April 23, 2013

Excerpts:
“In addition, we report significant correlations between DNA methylation and quantitatively measured autistic trait scores across our sample cohort. This study represents the first systematic epigenomic analyses of MZ twins discordant for ASD and implicates a role for altered DNA methylation in autism.”

Exerpt
“These findings concur with mounting data suggesting that environmentally mediated effects on the epigenome may be relatively common and important for disease.”

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  • April 23, 2013

Excerpts:

“GST [Glutathione S-transferase] is a metabolic biomarker directly associated with ASD. The human gene product for GST constitutes a candidate susceptibility protein due to its tissue distribution and role in oxidative stress and methionine metabolism, which results in neuronal injury and death.”

“Results of a recent study further demonstrated that glutathione, total glutathione and activity levels of GST were significantly lower in autistic patients as compared with control subjects; however, homocysteine, thioredoxin reductase and perioxidoxin levels were remarkably higher.”

“Autistic children with metabolic disturbances are known to display reduced metabolic activities of GST, cysteine, glutathione and methionine, which are associated with methionine transmethylation and trans-sulfation.”

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  • April 16, 2013

Excerpts:
“Intramuscular injection of alum-containing vaccine was associated with the appearance of aluminum deposits in distant organs, such as spleen and brain where they were still detected one year after injection.”

“Cerebral translocation was not observed after direct intravenous injection, but significantly increased in mice with chronically altered blood-brain-barrier.”

Conclusion
Nanomaterials can be transported by monocyte-lineage cells to DLNs, blood and spleen, and, similarly to HIV, may use CCL2-dependent mechanisms to penetrate the brain. This occurs at a very low rate in normal conditions explaining good overall tolerance of alum despite its strong neurotoxic potential. However, continuously escalating doses of this poorly biodegradable adjuvant in the population may become insidiously unsafe, especially in the case of overimmunization or immature/altered blood brain barrier or high constitutive CCL-2 production.

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  • April 4, 2013

PLoS ONE 8(3): e58058. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0058058 Identification of Unique Gene Expression Profile in Children with Regressive Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and Ileocolitis Walker SJ, Fortunato J, Gonzalez LG, Krigsman A AbstractGastrointestinal symptoms are common in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and are often associated with mucosal inflammatory infiltrates of the...

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  • March 8, 2013

Excerpt:
“Increasing maternal CRP levels, classified as a continuous variable, were significantly associated with autism in offspring. For maternal CRP levels in the highest quintile, compared with the lowest quintile, there was a significant, 43% elevated risk. This finding suggests that maternal inflammation may have a significant role in autism, with possible implications for identifying preventive strategies and pathogenic mechanisms in autism and other neurodevelopmental disorders.”

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  • January 22, 2013

Excerpts:

“In our clinical work and review of the literature, we have been impressed by the possible role of autoimmune disorders as influencing the pathophysiology of a distinct, objectively defined etiologic subtype of ASDs.”

“The notion that environmental factors contribute to ASD prevalence continues to evolve. Once-influential theories suggesting links among exposure to vaccines containing attenuated virus or toxins, conditions such as inflammatory bowel disease, and ASDs have fallen from favor since the retraction of a key study (Wakefield et al, 1998). It is important to emphasize, however, that the major reason for retraction was poor scientific method rather than theoretical flaws. Although ASDs are currently within the realm of psychiatrists and neurologists, it is becoming clear that at least some subtypes represent whole-body disorders, offering exciting new possibilities for therapy.”

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  • November 13, 2012