Elsevier

Pediatric Neurology

Volume 28, Issue 4, April 2003, Pages 292-294
Pediatric Neurology

Original article
Elevated levels of measles antibodies in children with autism

https://doi.org/10.1016/S0887-8994(02)00627-6Get rights and content

Abstract

Virus-induced autoimmunity may play a causal role in autism. To examine the etiologic link of viruses in this brain disorder, we conducted a serologic study of measles virus, mumps virus, and rubella virus. Viral antibodies were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay in the serum of autistic children, normal children, and siblings of autistic children. The level of measles antibody, but not mumps or rubella antibodies, was significantly higher in autistic children as compared with normal children (P = 0.003) or siblings of autistic children (P ≤ 0.0001). Furthermore, immunoblotting of measles vaccine virus revealed that the antibody was directed against a protein of approximately 74 kd molecular weight. The antibody to this antigen was found in 83% of autistic children but not in normal children or siblings of autistic children. Thus autistic children have a hyperimmune response to measles virus, which in the absence of a wild type of measles infection might be a sign of an abnormal immune reaction to the vaccine strain or virus reactivation.

Introduction

Autism is a complex disorder of the central nervous system (CNS), manifesting both neurologic and behavioral impairments. The disorder causes severe deficits of higher mental functions such as social interaction, language, communication, imagination, and cognition. The etiology and pathogenesis of the disorder is not well known or established. Current theories include genetic factors, immune factors, viral factors, neural factors, and yet other unidentified factors. To that end, we focused on autoimmune mechanism of pathogenesis for autism [1], [2], [3], [4]. Because viruses are common trigger agents for autoimmune diseases, we hypothesized that a virus-induced autoimmune response may play a causal role in autism [5], [6]. Since viral studies are extremely scarce in autism, we conducted a serologic study of three viruses, namely measles virus, mumps virus, and rubella virus. In this communication, we describe elevated levels of measles antibodies in autistic children, possibly as a consequence of a misguided immune response to measles vaccine.

Section snippets

Materials and methods

We conducted a serologic study of measles virus (MV), mumps virus (MuV), and rubella virus (RV) in autistic children and control children. The study included 88 autistic children (aged 3-10 years), 32 normal children (aged 4-10 years), and 15 siblings of autistic children (aged 4-11 years). However, because of our limited resources, not all sera were tested for all three viruses. The samples for analysis were randomly selected and tested in a blinded fashion to avoid inherent bias. As described

Results and discussion

Serologically, the quantitative levels of viral antibodies are described in Figure 1. It should be noted that the measles antibody level was significantly (P = .003) higher in autistic children as compared with normal children. However, in these two groups of children, the level of mumps antibodies or rubella antibodies did not attain statistical significance; the P values were 0.759 and 0.879 for mumps antibodies and rubella antibodies, respectively. Moreover, a similar result was found when

Acknowledgements

This research was supported without any conflict of interest by grants from multiple non-profit organizations: Dougherty Jr., Yorio, Unanue, Lattner and BHARE Foundations, Autism Research Institute and Autism Autoimmunity Project. We thank them sincerely.

References (12)

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