Antibodies to Myelin Basic Protein in Children with Autistic Behavior

• Published in: Brain, behavior, and immunity Vol. 7; no. 1; pp. 97 - 103
• Main Authors: Singh, V.K., Warren, R.P., Odell, J.D., Warren, W.L., Cole, P.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Amsterdam Elsevier Inc 01.03.1993; Elsevier
• Subjects: Adult; Age Factors; Antibody Specificity; Autistic Disorder - immunology; Autoantibodies - blood; Autoantibodies - immunology; Autoimmune Diseases - immunology; Biological and medical sciences; Child; Child clinical studies; Child, Preschool; Developmental disorders; Double-Blind Method; Down Syndrome - immunology; Female; Humans; Infant; Infantile autism; Intellectual Disability - immunology; Male; Medical sciences; Myelin Basic Protein - immunology; Nerve Tissue Proteins - immunology; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychopathology. Psychiatry; Human; Autoimmunity; Psychosis; Autism; Myelin; Basic protein; Autoantibody; Serology; Child
• ISSN: 0889-1591; 1090-2139
• DOI: 10.1006/brbi.1993.1010

Based on a possible pathological relationship of autoimmunity to autism, antibodies reactive with myelin basic protein (anti-MBP) were investigated in the sera of autistic children. Using a screening serum dilution of 1:400 in the protein-immunoblotting technique, approximately 58% (19 of 33) sera of autistic children (≤10 years of age) were found to be positive for anti-MBP. This result in autistics was significantly (p ≤ .0001) different from the controls (8 of 88 or only 9% positive), which included age-matched children with normal health, idiopathic mental retardation (MR) and Down syndrome (DS), and normal adults of 20 to 40 years of age. Since autism is a syndrome of unknown etiology, it is possible that anti-MBP antibodies are associated with the development of autistic behavior.