Autism Able to be Predicted in Infants

  1 in 68 children have been diagnosed with autism in the US. The risk increases to 1 in 5 for those children that have an affected sibling.
  Researchers at UNC Chapel Hill used MRI to evaluate the brains of high risk infants (those with a sibling with ASD). Overall brain volume, surface area and thickness of the cerebral cortex in select areas were measured. They discovered an overgrowth of cortical surface area in infants later diagnosed with autism. Using an algorithm they developed researchers were able to predict with near certainty which infants would later go on to develop autism by age 2. Further, cortical thickness was found to remain unchanged but the surface area of the brain increased at a higher rate than normal between 6 and 12 months of age. This expansion is believed to be due to an increase in neural progenitor cells (immature pre-neurons). Additionally, only the social symptoms of autism were found to be a consequence of these brain changes not the repetitive behaviors.
   The study is important in that the earlier we begin behavioral therapy in autism the greater the chance of limiting its adverse consequences.
Nature 542, 348-351 (16 Feb 2017)

Autism Oddities

  Sulforaphane, derived from broccoli sprouts, reduces behavioral disturbances...described by Leo Kanner, MD 70 years ago.... in patients with autism spectrum disorders (ASDs). Sulforaphane boosts the bodies natural defenses against oxidative stress, inflammation, and DNA damage as well improving the bodies heat-shock response, processes used to protect cells from stress caused by high temperatures....including fever.
  Half of parents with ADSs affected children report their autistic behavior improves noticeably when they have a fever.
PNAS:2014 Oct 13

Autism : One in Four Mothers of Autistic Children Have Antibodies That Target Fetal Brains

  University of California, Davis researchers have found maternal antibodies to seven fetal brain antigens in nearly one quarter of mothers with autistic children. This finding could lead to a maternal blood test to identify children at risk for autism spectrum disorder long before symptoms manifest. This finding may herald a potential treatment option to prevent autism by blocking exposure to these antibodies in children born to affected mothers.
  One in 88 children in the US have autism (CDC).
Translational Psychiatry
  In a second study, also from UC Davis, IgG from mothers of children with autism was given to pregnant rhesus monkeys the offspring of which displayed inappropriate social interactions.