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November 7, 2001        News Morgue Search  www.feat.org/search/news.asp

RESEARCH

·        Move Over Moms, Mercury, Vaccines & Viruses: Now its PCBs

·        New Jersey Autism Prevalence Study: It’s 1 in 250

·        Secretin Pays Only Lip Service to Language of ASD Kids

·        Autistic Kids Have Hot Immune Systems

·        Reader’s Posts

 

 

Move Over Moms, Mercury, Vaccines and Viruses, Now its PCBs

Effects of Polychlorinated Biphenyls On The Nervous System.  http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_ui ds=11693948&dopt=Abstract <-- address ends here.

1: Toxicol Ind Health 2001 Sep;16(7-8):305-33 Related Articles, Books Faroon O, Jones D, de Rosa C.

Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) US Department of

Health and Human Services, Atlanta, Georgia 30333, USA. oxs0@cdc.gov

The neurological effects of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) have been extensively investigated in humans and in animals. The main focus in human studies has been on the effects in neonates and young children, although studies of adults have also been conducted. A great deal of concern exists that even low levels of PCBs transferred to the fetus across the placenta may induce long-lasting neurological damage. Because PCBs are lipophilic substances, there is also concem that significant amounts might be transferred to nursing infants via breast milk.

Studies in humans who consumed large amounts of Great Lakes fish contaminated with environmentally persistent chemicals, including PCBs. have provided evidence that PCBs are important contributors to subtle neurobehavioral alterations observed in newborn children and that some of these alterations persist during childhood.

Some consistent observations at birth have been motor immaturity and hyporeflexia and lower psychomotor scores between 6 months and 2 years old.  There is preliminary evidence that highly chlorinated PCB congeners, which accumulate in certain fish, are associated with neurobehavioral alterations seen in some newbom children. Subtle neurobehavioral alterations have also been observed in children bom to mothers in the general population with the highest PCB body burdens. Because of the limitations of epidemiological studies, these effects cannot be attributed entirely to PCB exposure.

In one general population study, there was strong evidence that dioxins, as well as PCBs, were contributors to the neurobehavioral effects seen in exposed children. Children born to women who accidentally consumed rice oil contaminated with relatively high amounts of PCBs and chlorinated dibenzofurans (CDFs) during pregnancy also had neurodevelopmental changes.  Studies in animals support the human data. Neurobehavioral alterations have been also observed in rats and monkeys following prenatal and/or postnatal exposure to commercial Aroclor mixtures, defined experimental congener mixtures, single PCB congeners, and Great Lakes contaminated fish.

In addition, monkeys exposed postnatally to PCB mixtures of congeneric composition and concentration similar to that found in human breast milk showed learning deficits long after exposure had ceased. A few other generalizations can be made from the data in animals. It appears that ortho-substituted PCB congeners are more active than coplanar PCBs in modifying cognitive processes. In addition, one effect observed in both rats and monkeys—deficits on delayed spatial alternation—has been known to be induced by exposure to ortho-substituted PCBs, defined experimental mixtures, and commercial Aroclors.

Both dioxin-like and non-dioxin-like PCB congeners have been shown to induce neurobehavioral alterations in animals. Changes in levels of neurotransmitters in various brain areas have also been observed in monkeys, rats, and mice. Of all the observed changes, the most consistent has been a decrease in dopamine content in basal ganglia and prefrontal cortex, but further research is needed before specific neurobehavioral deficits can be correlated with PCB-induced changes in specific neurotransmitters in specific brain areas.

PMID: 11693948 [PubMed - in process]

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New Jersey Autism Prevalence Study: It’s 1 in 250

Prevalence of Autism in a United States Population: The Brick Township, New Jersey, Investigation.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_ui

ds=11694696&dopt=Abstract

1: Pediatrics 2001 Nov;108(5):1155-1161

Bertrand J, Mars A, Boyle C, Bove F, Yeargin-Allsopp M, Decoufle P.  National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia; Department of Developmental Disabilities, University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, New Brunswick, New Jersey; and Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, Atlanta, Georgia.

Objective. This study determined the prevalence of autism for a defined community, Brick Township, New Jersey, using current diagnostic and epidemiologic methods.

Methods. The target population was children who were 3 to 10 years of age in 1998, who were residents of Brick Township at any point during that year, and who had an autism spectrum disorder. Autism spectrum disorder was defined as autistic disorder, pervasive developmental disorder-not otherwise specified (PDD-NOS), and Asperger disorder.

The study used 4 sources for active case finding: special education records, records from local clinicians providing diagnosis or treatment for developmental or behavioral disabilities, lists of children from community parent groups, and families who volunteered for participation in the study in response to media attention. The autism diagnosis was verified (or ruled out) for 71% of the children through clinical assessment.

The assessment included medical and developmental history, physical and neurologic evaluation, assessment of intellectual and behavioral functioning, and administration of the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule-Generic.

Results. The prevalence of all autism spectrum disorders combined was 6.7 cases per 1000 children. The prevalence for children whose condition met full diagnostic criteria for autistic disorder was 4.0 cases per 1000 children, and the prevalence for PDD-NOS and Asperger disorder was 2.7 cases per 1000 children. Characteristics of children with autism in this study were similar to those in previous studies of autism.

Conclusions. The prevalence of autism in Brick Township seems to be higher than that in other studies, particularly studies conducted in the United States, but within the range of a few recent studies in smaller populations that used more thorough case-finding methods.

PMID: 11694696 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]

 

 

 

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Secretin Pays Only Lip Service to Language of ASD Kids

Effects of intravenous secretin on language and behavior of children with autism and gastrointestinal symptoms: a single-blinded, open-label pilot study.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_ui ds=11694674&dopt=Abstract 1: Pediatrics 2001 Nov;108(5):90 Related Articles, Books Lightdale JR, Hayer C, Duer A, Lind-White C, Jenkins S, Siegel B, Elliott GR, Heyman MB.

Combined Program in Pediatric Gastroenterology and Nutrition, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts; and the Departments of Psychiatry and Pediatrics, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, California.

Background. Autism is a severe developmental disorder with poorly understood etiology. A recently published case series describes 3 autistic children with gastrointestinal symptoms who underwent endoscopy and intravenous administration of secretin and were subsequently noted by their parents to demonstrate improved language skills over a 5-week period.

This report sparked tremendous public interest, and investigators at several sites moved quickly to design controlled trials to test the efficacy of secretin as a therapy for autistic children. However, this is the first effort specifically designed to replicate the initial reported findings in terms of patient age, presenting symptoms, and drug administration.

Objective. To rigorously apply the scientific method by assessing the reproducibility of the reported effects of intravenous secretin on the language of young children with autism and gastrointestinal symptoms.

Methods. We performed a single-blinded, prospective, open-label trial by conducting formal language testing and blinded behavioral rating both before and repeatedly after a standardized infusion of secretin. We selected autistic children who were similar in age and profile to those described in the published retrospective case review. Inclusion criteria for study participation included age (3-6 years), confirmed diagnosis of autism, and reported gastrointestinal symptoms (16 had chronic diarrhea, 2 had gastroesophageal reflux, and 2 had chronic constipation).

Twenty children (18 male) were admitted to the Pediatric Clinical Research Center at the University of California, San Francisco after administration of the Preschool Language Scale-3 (PLS-3). A 3 CU/kg dose of secretin (Secretin-Ferring) was administered intravenously (upper endoscopy was not performed). Behavioral ratings were derived using the Autism Observation Scale applied to a 30-minute time sample of the child’s behavior consisting of a videotape of the PLS-3 (structured setting) and a second free play session with a standard set of developmentally appropriate toys.

Participants then returned for follow-up evaluations, with readministrations of the PLS-3 at 1, 2, 3, and 5 weeks’ postinfusion, and videotaping of each session for later blinded review by 2 independent observers using the Autism Observation Scale, uninformed about week of posttreatment. We also surveyed parents of our study children about their impressions of the effects of secretin using a 5-point Likert scale for parents to rate changes seen in their child.

Results. With a total study completion rate across all participants of 96%, repeated measures analyses of variance revealed no significant increases in children’s language skills from baseline across all 5 study time periods after a single infusion of secretin. Similarly, neither significant decreases in atypical behaviors nor increases in prosocial behaviors and developmentally appropriate play skills emerged. Furthermore, no relationship was found between parental reports of change and observable improvement in the sample. Despite the objective lack of drug effect, 70% of parents in our study reported moderate to high change in their child’s language and behavior. Furthermore, 85% of parents reported that they felt that their child would obtain at least some additional benefits from another infusion of secretin.

Conclusions. The results of our pilot study indicate that intravenous secretin had no effects in a 5-week period on the language and behavior of 20 children with autism and gastrointestinal symptoms. The open-label, prospective design of our study with blinded reviews of patients both before and after secretin administration follows the scientific method by seeking to reproduce an observed phenomenon using validating and reliable outcome measures.

Pilot studies remain a mandatory step for the design of future randomized, clinical trials investigating potential treatments for children with autism.

PMID: 11694674 [PubMed - in process]

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Autistic Kids Have Hot Immune Systems

Study strikes another blow for autism-as-an-immune disorder (NIDS)

hypothesis

Proinflammatory and regulatory cytokine production associated with innate and adaptive immune responses in children with autism spectrum disorders and developmental regression.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_ui ds=11694332&dopt=Abstract <-- address ends here.

1: J Neuroimmunol 2001 Jan 11;120(1-2):170-9

Jyonouchi H, Sun S, Le H.

Department of Pediatrics, University of Minnesota, MMC 610 FUMC, 420

Delaware Street SE, 55455, Minneapolis, MN, USA

 

We determined innate and adaptive immune responses in children with developmental regression and autism spectrum disorders (ASD, N=71), developmentally normal siblings (N=23), and controls (N=17). With lipopolysaccharide (LPS), a stimulant for innate immunity, peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) from 59/71 (83.1%) ASD patients produced >2 SD above the control mean (CM) values of TNF-alpha, IL-1beta, and/or IL-6 produced by control PBMCs.

ASD PBMCs produced higher levels of proinflammatory/counter-regulatory cytokines without stimuli than controls. With stimulants of phytohemagglutinin (PHA), tetanus, IL-12p70, and IL-18, PBMCs from 47.9% to 60% of ASD patients produced >2 SD above the CM values of TNF-alpha depending on stimulants. Our results indicate excessive innate immune responses in a number of ASD children that may be most evident in TNF-alpha production.

PMID: 11694332 [PubMed - in process]

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Reader’s Posts

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old son to set up a home program in Davis, California.

 

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