BACKGROUND Autism is a pervasive neurodevelopmental disorder,thought to be caused by a combination of genetic heritability and environmental risk factors. Some autistic-like traits have been reported in mothers of autistic children. We hypothesized that dysregulation of oxytocin (OXT), Arg-vasopressin (AVP) and sex hormones, found in autistic children, may also exist in their mothers. METHODS...

AIM To assess both serum concentration of metallotionein (MT) and anti-metallothionein (anti-MT) immunoglobulin G (IgG) in autistic children with gastrointestinal (GI) symptoms and controls, and to test the hypothesis that there is an association between the presence of MT, anti-MT IgG, and inflammatory GI disease seen in many children with autistic spectrum disorder (ASD). SUBJECTS AND METHO...

Autistic disorders (ADs) are heterogeneous neurodevelopmental disorders arised by the interaction of genes and environmental factors. Dysfunctions in social interaction and communication skills, repetitive and stereotypic verbal and non-verbal behaviours are common features of ADs. There are no defined mechanisms of pathogenesis, rendering curative therapy very difficult. Indeed, the treatments...

Six per cent of child in a sample of 111 children who were adopted into U.K. families from Romania, and who were systematically assessed at the ages of 4 and 6 years, showed autistic-like patterns of behaviour. A further 6% showed milder (usually isolated) autistic features. Such autistic characteristics were not found in a similarly studied sample of 52 children adopted in the first 6 months o...

Most of the autistic disorder patients are also mentally retarded and many mentally retarded persons exhibit autistic symptoms. By using a standard instrument (Ritvo-Freeman Real Life Rating Scale) the autistic features of the mentally retarded children were studied. The study also examined the influence of age, sex and level of mental retardation on the occurrence of autistic symptoms. Childre...

AIM To assess the possible relationship between serum alpha-1 antitrypsin (AAT) levels and anti-neutrophil cytoplasmic antibodies (ANCA) in autistic children with severe GI disease and to test the hypothesis that there is an association between low serum AAT levels, the presence of ANCA and inflammatory GI disease seen in some autistic children. SUBJECTS AND METHODS Serum from 40 autistic chi...

Being able to manage reputation is an important social skill, but it is unclear whether autistic children can manage reputation. This study investigated whether 33 autistic children matched to 33 typical children could implicitly or explicitly manage reputation. Further, we examined whether cognitive processes-theory of mind, social motivation, inhibitory control and reciprocity-contribute to r...

The literature on international travellers with psychiatric disorders is limited. This perspective article highlights various travel-related aspects of autism spectrum disorder (ASD), including its aetiological association with maternal migration, the difficulties faced by long-term travelers with autistic children, and the facilitation of international travel for autistic individuals by the tr...

Autism is a neurodevelopmental disorder currently affecting as many as 1 out of 166 children in the United States. Numerous studies of autistic individuals have revealed evidence of cerebral hypoperfusion, neuroinflammation and gastrointestinal inflammation, immune dysregulation, oxidative stress, relative mitochondrial dysfunction, neurotransmitter abnormalities, impaired detoxification of tox...

The first purpose of the studies reported was to compare the ability of autistic children in understanding false belief with the corresponding abilities of normal or mentally retarded children. Unexpected location tasks adapted from the SallyAnne false belief tasks were used in experiment 1. Autistic children performed worse than normal children and the mentally retarded children, but the diffe...