Autism and the Environment

Raw Story reports on 2 new studies focusing on the role of the environment in causing autism, even when biological susceptibility may exist:
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2011/07/04/studies-autism-may-be-triggered-in-the-womb/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+TheRawStory+%28The+Raw+Story%29

Studies: Autism may be triggered in the womb

"CHICAGO (Reuters) - Environmental factors may play a greater role in autism than previously thought, tipping the scale away from a strict focus on genetics, two studies released on Monday suggest.

In one, a team at Stanford University compared cases of autism in identical and fraternal twins and found that fraternal twins -- who share only half of the same genes -- have unusually high rates of autism, suggesting that factors other than genetics may be triggering the disease.

In another, researchers at health insurer Kaiser Permanente found mothers of children with autism were twice as likely to have been prescribed a common antidepressant during the year before their pregnancy than mothers of healthy children...."

MAJIA HERE: In 2005 I published a book titled, Constructing Autism: Unravelling the Truth and Understand the Social http://www.amazon.com/Constructing-Autism-Unravelling-Understanding-Social/dp/0415321816/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1309889747&sr=8-1

In this book I examine the research on genetics and conclude that autism is primarily an environmental disease.

Here are some of my conclusions forwarded in that book and my subsequent work on autism

1. Autism is heterogeneous, meaning not all people who have the label autism have the same underlying biological condition. The good news about autism is that people change over their lifespan and early intervention and accommodations can make very important differences in quality of life and independence levels for people with autism.

The bad news is more and more kids are being diagnosed with autism and environmental factors are probably largely responsible.

2. The human brain is very complicated and  many environmental factors may cause disruptions in neurological development in utero, including viruses and a wide array of environmental pollutants including a range of chemicals and, I now believe, ionizing radiation. 

Genes play a role but the catalyst for genetic disruptions, I believe, are primarily environmental.

3. Exclusively genetic explanations for autism were pursued because there exist a range of economic and political reinforcers for genetic explanations, while environmental research is difficult to fund because it is unpopular with industry. Bio-medical researchers who don't get grants typically don't get tenure.

4. To repeat, the bad news about autism is that diagnoses are increasing. The CDC reported this year that 1 in 6 U.S. kids now has a diagnosed developmental disability. Now some of this increase may be due to labeling but I believe strongly that environmental pollutants are playing an important role as well.

Lead, mercury, pthalates (http://www.ourstolenfuture.org/newscience/oncompounds/phthalates/phthalates.htm ), and other environmental triggers can disrupt development in embryos and fetuses.

5. I now believe that ionizing radiation plays a role in autism as well. 

I have found a possible mechanism. NK CD 56 cells are very radiosensitive and they have also been implicated as dysfunctional in children with autism. Maybe there is a connection here?

Below are the steps I used in making this link and the relevant citations.

CD 56 NK cells are highly sensitive to ionizing radiation

The conclusion "CD56 (bright) subset of NK cells and this subpopulation was considered as the most radiosensitive one." was found in this article: Doris Vokurková a, Ji_rina Vávrová b, Ji_rí _Sinkora c, Alena Stoklasová a, Václav Bláha b, Martina _Rezá_cová a (2010). Radiosensitivity of CD3_CD8þCD56þ NK cells Radiation Measurements 45 (2010) 1020e1023

and this study raises questions because children impacted by Chernobyl have low levels of NK cells

Frequent natural killer cell abnormality in children in an area highly contaminated by the Chernobyl accident. By Yoike, et al. Int J Hematol. 1995 Apr;61(3):139-45. Abstract Since January 1991, we have been performing thyroid surveys and hematologic and immunologic screening on children in Chechersk, Belarus, a city situated in one of the areas most seriously contaminated with high levels of radionuclides after the Chernobyl accident. Ten children selected from 713 children because of goiter did not show a decrease in humoral immunity or in the number and function of T cells. By contrast, natural killer (NK) cell activity against K562 cells was depressed in 4 of these 10 children. The clinical and laboratory findings indicated that previously reported diseases with NK cell dysfunction could be excluded. A comparative analysis of NK cell activity in children from areas with and without high 137Cs levels revealed a high frequency of abnormal NK cell activity only in children from the area contaminated by radioactive fallout. In addition, there was no correlation between NK cell activity and NK cell number as percentage in the children from the area with high 137Cs levels. Neither activity nor number of NK cells was correlated with the body content of 137Cs. Thus, the frequent abnormality of NK cell function may not have been due to actual internal exposure to the long-lived radionuclide.

PMID:

I found a connection to autism for CD 56 cells in this research study:

Altered gene expression and function of peripheral blood natural killer cells in children with autism.
Brain, Behavior, and Immunity, Volume 23, Issue 1, January 2009, Pages 124-133
ABSTRACT: “children with autism found to have abnormalities in function of NK cells, Immune related abnormalities have repeatedly been reported in autism spectrum disorders (ASD), including evidence of immune dysregulation and autoimmune phenomena. NK cells may play an important role in neurodevelopmental disorders such as ASD.

Also evidence can be found in this study

ABSTRACT: "Measurement of natural killer (NK) cell activity in blood samples of autistic children (n=1027) revealed that 45% of the subjects exhibited low NK cell activity compared to the controls (n=113). The correlation of this finding with low intracellular glutathione, IL-2 and IL-15 levels may indicate the underlying cause for NK cell dysfunction in a subset of autistic children [11]. Theoharis C. Theoharides a,b,c,d,e,⁎, Asimenia Angelidou a,e, Konstantinos-Dionysios Alysandratos a,e, Bodi Zhang a,b, Shahrzad Asadi a, Konstantinos Francis f, Elena Toniato g, Dimitrios Kalogeromitros (2011) Biochimica et Biophysica Acta

HOW COULD A CORRELATION BE ESTABLISHED? SOMEONE NEEDS TO START STUDYING INCIDENCES OF AUTISM IN CHILDREN NEAR NUCLEAR AND COAL PLANTS (coal plants also emit radionuclides).