Scientists focus on diuretic to restore neuron function in
autistic rodents
By Margie Wilson-Mars
With autism rates
soaring over the past 20 years, researchers are constantly looking for
prevention or treatment methods. One scientist, Yehezkel Ben-Ari of the
Mediterranean Institute of Neurobiology in Marseille, France believes autistic
children may have suffered stress at birth. As a mother of three autistic
children, this peaked my interest, especially since two of them suffered birth
trauma.
While
Ben-Ari has done some studies on autistic children, most of his research has been limited to mice and rats.
Even so, there are noted parallels that seem to make the study applicable to
humans in many ways. His focus is a simple diuretic called bumetanide that
reduces levels of chloride in cells. As a diuretic, it helps lower blood
pressure by making a person urinate more, reducing fluid in the body.
Ben-Ari's
study says in utero, rats and mice brains are basically hyper, likely true in
humans as well, and the chloride that's inside neurons appears to assist in
that fast development. Oxytocin, known as the "love hormone" and is
responsible for labor, breastfeeding and maternal bonding, calms down the
chloride ions during labor, which helps babies deal with the stress of birth.
Since
autism seems to occur more often in babies who experienced a stressful birth,
Ben-Ari and his colleagues believe it's possible that the switch to calm the
chloride ions down may not happen in babies who end up autistic. One of my boys
had severe facial and head injuries from compression when the edge of my cervix
wouldn't retract. The other had the umbilical cord looped around his neck twice
and was nearly strangulated during the 20 minutes it took to remove it.
While
they can't replicate it exactly in rodents, Ben-Ari's team used two models of
autism. In one group, the mice had the most common genetic mutation associated
with the human form. The second group consisted of rats "exposed in utero
to sodium valproate, an epilepsy drug known to significantly increase risk of
autism in children whose mothers take the medication."
The
team used the drug bumetanide, which blocks chloride transport channels in
neurons and is used to lower blood pressure, to see if it would lower chloride
and restore normal neuron function in the autistic rodents. When given to
pregnant rodents, it cured the offspring of both groups and even helped in
autistic adult rodents. Since every attempt to find an effective drug has
failed, this is very exciting news.
In
2012, the team did some trials on
autistic children with some
success. However, several issues need to be addressed. The biggest obstacle is
the fact that there's no way to detect autistic babies in utero. There's also
some concern over the fact that Ben-Ari has patented a version of bumetanide
and formed a company, Neurochlore, that plans to test it on children, so he
would profit from its success.
Some
scientists question the vast difference between the human brain and rodent
brain, but any progress towards the understanding, treatment or even a cure is
welcome. One scientist, neuroscientist Emanuel DiCicco-Bloom, says the study is "pretty awesome" and other
autism scientists are thrilled about the discovery. Andrew Zimmerman, a
pediatric neurologist and autism expert at the University of Massachusetts
Medical School in Worcester, Mass., says
it's a "pretty incredible
finding and really great."
It's
believed that the earlier autistic children are diagnosed the better because
treatment is more effective the earlier it starts. Ben-Ari is doing trials on
kids as young as 2. It's usually discovered at about 4 years old. According to the Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention, 1 in 88 children in the United States are autistic, and
the number is rising.
Ben-Ari
says, "It's important for people to understand there is no drug to cure a
medical disease as complicated as autism."
There's
still many years of testing and trials ahead, but hopefully, this is one step
closer to a cure.
Article retrieved from: http://www.parenting.com/pregnancy/complications/study-autism-may-be-related-to-birth-stress?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social&utm_content=4478494
Image retrieved from: http://i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/01450/pregnant_1450316c.jpg
