Infection during pregnancy may alter the chemical tags that are added to histones, proteins that form a spool for DNA, according to a study published 9 February in Brain, Behavior and Immunity. Drugs that target these tags may treat neuropsychiatric disorders, the researchers say.
Exposure to immune factors during gestation may account for the social deficits seen in a mouse model of autism, according to a study published 15 May in the Journal of Neuroimmunology. Fetuses of a normal mouse strain develop the same social deficits when exposed to the immune factors.
Researchers have identified six fetal brain proteins that bind to maternal antibodies, which are thought to trigger changes to the fetal brain and raise the risk of autism. They presented their findings today at the International Meeting for Autism Research in San Sebastián, Spain.
Maternal antibodies that raise the risk of autism when a fetus is exposed to them in utero may lead to elevated head size in the child, according to a study published 8 February in Brain, Behavior and Immunity.
A century-old drug created to treat African sleeping sickness reverses several autism-like features in a mouse model of the disorder, according to a study published 13 March in PLoS ONE.
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Women who have high levels of C-reactive protein, a marker of inflammation, early in their pregnancies are at increased risk of having children with autism, reports a study published 22 January in Molecular Psychiatry.
Children with multiple copies of MeCP2, the gene linked to Rett syndrome, have an immune deficiency in addition to intellectual disabilities, impaired motor skills and seizures. The findings, published 5 December in Science Translational Medicine, may explain why these individuals suffer from frequent bouts of severe respiratory infections and pneumonia.
Maternal health seems to have little impact on autism risk, according to a study published 7 January in PLoS One. The more serious risk is for intellectual disability, which can often occur along with autism.