Autism, immune irregularities linked in new research | Health, Medi

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Autism, immune irregularities linked in new research | Health, Medical, and Science Updates

I know this is off topic from IAQ, but it is subject that has been discussed on this board many times with several members having a personal interest. So here is the gist:

With the mouse model established, the group was then able to test whether the offspring’s immune problems contribute to their autism-related behaviors. In a revealing test of this hypothesis, the researchers were able to correct many of the autism-like behaviors in the offspring of immune-activated mothers by giving the offspring a bone-marrow transplant from typical mice. The normal stem cells in the transplanted bone marrow not only replenished the immune system of the host animals but altered their autism-like behavioral impairments.

The researchers emphasize that because the work was conducted in mice, the results cannot be readily extrapolated to humans, and they certainly do not suggest that bone-marrow transplants should be considered as a treatment for autism. They also have yet to establish whether it was the infusion of stem cells or the bone-marrow transplant procedure itself—complete with irradiation—that corrected the behaviors.

Sharon