TY - JOUR
T1 - Maternal antibrain antibodies in autism
AU - Zimmerman, Andrew W.
AU - Connors, Susan L.
AU - Matteson, Karla J.
AU - Lee, Li Ching
AU - Singer, Harvey S.
AU - Castaneda, Julian A.
AU - Pearce, David A.
N1 - Funding Information:
Supported by the Jonty Foundation, the Autism Society of America, East Tennessee Chapter, and NIH Grant T32 ES07026-27.
PY - 2007/3
Y1 - 2007/3
N2 - Autism is a neurodevelopmental disorder of prenatal onset that is behaviorally defined. There is increasing evidence for systemic and neuroimmune mechanisms in children with autism. Although genetic factors are important, atypical prenatal maternal immune responses may also be linked to the pathogenesis of autism. We tested serum reactivity in 11 mothers and their autistic children, maternal controls, and several groups of control children, to prenatal, postnatal, and adult rat brain proteins, by immunoblotting. Similar patterns of reactivity to prenatal (gestational day 18), but not postnatal (day 8) or adult rat brain proteins were identified in autistic children, their mothers, and children with other neurodevelopmental disorders, and differed from mothers of normal children, normal siblings of children with autism and normal child controls. Specific patterns of antibody reactivity were present in sera from the autism mothers, from 2 to 18 years after the birth of their affected children and were unrelated to birth order. Immunoblotting using specific antigens for myelin basic protein (MBP) and glial acidic fibrillary protein (GFAP) suggests that these proteins were not targets of the maternal antibodies. The identification of specific serum antibodies in mothers of children with autism that recognize prenatally expressed brain antigens suggests that these autoantibodies could cross the placenta and alter fetal brain development.
AB - Autism is a neurodevelopmental disorder of prenatal onset that is behaviorally defined. There is increasing evidence for systemic and neuroimmune mechanisms in children with autism. Although genetic factors are important, atypical prenatal maternal immune responses may also be linked to the pathogenesis of autism. We tested serum reactivity in 11 mothers and their autistic children, maternal controls, and several groups of control children, to prenatal, postnatal, and adult rat brain proteins, by immunoblotting. Similar patterns of reactivity to prenatal (gestational day 18), but not postnatal (day 8) or adult rat brain proteins were identified in autistic children, their mothers, and children with other neurodevelopmental disorders, and differed from mothers of normal children, normal siblings of children with autism and normal child controls. Specific patterns of antibody reactivity were present in sera from the autism mothers, from 2 to 18 years after the birth of their affected children and were unrelated to birth order. Immunoblotting using specific antigens for myelin basic protein (MBP) and glial acidic fibrillary protein (GFAP) suggests that these proteins were not targets of the maternal antibodies. The identification of specific serum antibodies in mothers of children with autism that recognize prenatally expressed brain antigens suggests that these autoantibodies could cross the placenta and alter fetal brain development.
KW - Antibodies
KW - Autism
KW - Autoimmunity
KW - Maternal
KW - Prenatal
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U2 - 10.1016/j.bbi.2006.08.005
DO - 10.1016/j.bbi.2006.08.005
M3 - Article
C2 - 17029701
AN - SCOPUS:33846651935
SN - 0889-1591
VL - 21
SP - 351
EP - 357
JO - Brain, Behavior, and Immunity
JF - Brain, Behavior, and Immunity
IS - 3
ER -