Autistic child and his mother: marker molecules of blood and reflection of molecular and cellular disturbances

Abstract

Autism is gradually becoming an epidemic. The frequency of this disorder now is one per 60–80 infants, against 1:5000-10000 approximately 60–70 years ago. Because epidemics of genetic disease do not occur, this confirms that most cases of autism are not associated with the genome problems but rather with the progressive deepening of environmental problems. Environmental pressure may be barely noticeable for an adult, but this could disturb the development of a much more fragile foetus. A variety of industrial and agricultural pollutants, heavy metals, pathogenic bacteria, etc. may be involved in the pathogenesis of autism. All of them cause similar persistent changes in the production of autoantibodies and cytokines influencing the foetal development. Moreover, trans-placental transfer of the excess of some maternal аuto-antibodies of IgG class leads to pre-birth ‘tuning’ of the immune system of the foetus by mechanisms of maternal immune imprinting. This phenomenon could be an additional factor in the pathogenesis of autism. It is noted that the environment-induced immune changes are mostly adaptive for the mother; however, for the unborn child, they can often be the factors of pathogenesis. Discuss the possibility of the study of repertoires of maternal autoantibodies for the prediction of normal or abnormal development of the foetus and the birth of the newborn with congenital disorders that are not caused by gene defects.