Ockham's Razor and autism: The case for developmental neurotoxins contributing to a disease of neurodevelopment

NeuroToxicology

Volumn 30, Issue 3, 2009, Pages 331-337

  DeSoto, M Catherine ^a  

^a UNIVERSITY OF NORTHERN IOWA   (United States)

Author keywords

Autism; Developmental disorders; Environmental contaminants; Heavy metals; Pollution; Toxins

Indexed keywords

ARYLDIALKYLPHOSPHATASE; NEUROTOXIN; PESTICIDE;

ALLELE; ARTICLE; AUTISM; DIAGNOSTIC VALUE; ENVIRONMENTAL FACTOR; GENETIC PREDISPOSITION; GENETIC VARIABILITY; HUMAN; NERVE CELL DIFFERENTIATION; NEUROLOGIC DISEASE; POLLUTANT; PREVALENCE; PRIORITY JOURNAL;

EID: 67349153720     PISSN: 0161813X     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1016/j.neuro.2009.03.003     Document Type: Note

References (53)

1. Aelion C.M., Davis H.T., McDermott S., and Lawson A.B. Metal concentrations in rural topsoil in South Carolina: potential for human health. Science of the Total Environment 402 (2008) 149-156
2. Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry. 2007 CERCLA priority list of hazardous substances that will be the subject of toxicological profiles and support document; 2007. Retrieved August 10, 2008, from http://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/cercla/supportdocs/text.pdf.
3. American Psychiatric and Association. Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders. 4th ed. (1994), American Psychiatric Association, Washington, DC
4. Atladottir H., Schendel D., Dalsgaard S., Thomsen P., and Thorsen P. Time trends in reported diagnoses of childhood neuropsychiatric disorders: a Danish cohort study. Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine 161 (2007) 193-199
5. Baker H.C. A comparison study of autism spectrum disorder referrals 1997 and 1989. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders 32 (2002) 121-125
6. Barbaresi W.J., Colligan R.C., Weaver A.L., and Katusic S.K. The incidence of clinically diagnosed versus research-identified autism in olmsted county, Minnesota, 1976-1997: results from a retrospective, population-based study. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders 39 3 (2009) 464-470
7. Buyske S., Williams T., Mars A., Stenroos E., Ming S., and Wang R. Analysis of case-parent trios at a locus with a deletion allele: association of GSTM1 with autism. BMC Genetics 7 (2006) 8
8. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Media relations: media availability on vaccine safety; 2008. Retrieved August 22, 2008, from www.cdc.gov/media/transcripts/2008/t080307.htm.
9. D'Amelio M., Ricci I., Sacco R., Liu X., D'Agruma L., Muscarella L.A., et al. Paraoxonase gene variants are associated with autism in North America, but not in Italy: possible regional specificity in gene-environment interactions. Molecular Psychiatry 10 (2005) 1006-1016
10. DeSoto M.C. A reply to Soden: your data shows autistic children have higher levels of heavy metals. Clinical Toxicology 46 10 (2008) 1098
11. DeSoto M.C., and Hitlan R.T. Blood levels of mercury are related to diagnosis of autism: a reanalysis of an important data set. Journal of Child Neurology 22 (2007) 1308-1311
12. Edelson S.B., and Cantor D. The neurotoxic etiology of the autistic spectrum disorders: a replication study. Toxicology and Industrial Health 16 (2000) 239-247
13. Environmental Protection Agency. National priority list sites in Minnesota; 2008. Retrieved August 13, 2008, from http://www.epa.gov/superfund/sites/npl/mn.htm.
14. Eskenazi B., Marks A.R., Bradman A., Harley K., Barr D.B., Johnson C., et al. Organophosphate pesticide exposure and neurodevelopment in young Mexican-American children. Environmental Health Perspectives 115 (2007) 792-798
15. Fombonne E. Thimerisol disappears but autism remains. Archives of General Psychiatry 65 (2008) 15-16
16. Fombonne E., Zakarian R., Bennett A., Meng L., and McLean-Heywood D. Pervasive developmental disorders in Montreal, Quebec, Canada: prevalence and links with immunizations. Pediatrics 118 (2006) 139-150
17. Geier D.A., and Geier M.R. A prospective assessment of porphyrins in autistic disorders: a potential marker for heavy metal exposure. Neurotoxicology Research 10 (2006) 57-64
18. Gillberg C., Cederlund M., Lamberg K., and Zeijion L. Brief report: "The autism epidemic". The registered prevalence of autism in a Swedish urban area. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders 36 (2006) 429-435
19. Gundacker C., Komarnicki G., Jagiello P., Gencikova A., Dahmen N., Wittmann K., et al. Glutathione-S-transferase polymorphism, metallothionein expression, and mercury levels among students in Austria. Science of the Total Environment 385 (2007) 37-47
20. Gurney J.G., Fritz M.S., Ness K.L., Sievers P., Newschaffer C.J., and Shapiro E.G. Analysis of prevalence trends of autism spectrum disorder in Minnesota. Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine 157 (2003) 622-627
21. Hertz-Picciotto I., and Delwiche L. The rise of autism and the role of age at diagnosis. Epidemiology 20 1 (2009) 84-90
22. Hoekstra R.A., Bartels M., Verweij C.J., and Boomsma D.I. Heritability of autistic traits in the general population. Archives of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine 161 (2007) 372-377
23. Hoshino Y., Tachibna Y., Watanabe H., Kumashiro R., and Yashima M. The epidemiological study of autism in Fukushima-ken. Folia Psychiatric Neurology Japan 36 (1982) 115-124
24. Ip P., Wong V., Ho M., Lee J., and Wong W. Mercury exposure in children with autistic spectrum disorder: case-control study. Journal of Child Neurology 19 6 (2004) 431-434
25. James S.J., Cutler P., Melnyk S., Jernigan S., Janak L., Gaylor D.W., et al. Metabolic biomarkers of increased oxidative stress and impaired methylation capacity in children with autism. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 80 (2004) 1611-1617
26. James S., Melnyk S., Jernigan S., Cleves M., Halsted C., Wong D., et al. Metabolic endophenotype and related genotypes are associated with oxidative stress in children with autism. American Journal of Medical Genetics Part B (Neuropsychiatric Genetics) 141B (2006) 947-956
27. James S., Melnyk S., Jernigan S., Hubanks A., Rose S., and Gaylor D. Abnormal transmethylation/transsulfuration metabolism and DNA hypomethylation among parents of children with autism. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders (2008)
28. Kamer A., Diamond R., Inbar Y., Zohar G., Youngmann D., and Senecky A. A prevalence estimate of pervasive developmental disorder among immigrants to Israel and Israel natives-a file review study. Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology 39 (2004) 141-145
29. Madsen K., Lauritsen M., Pedersen C., Thorsen P., Plesner A., Andersen P., et al. Thimerosal and the occurrence of autism: negative ecological evidence from Danish population-based data. Pediatrics 112 (2003) 604-606
30. Morahan J., Yu B., Trent R., and Pamphlett R. A gene-environment study of the paraoxonase 1 gene and pesticides in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. Neurotoxicology 28 (2006) 532-540
31. Ming X., Stein T., Brimacombe M., Johnson W., Lambert G., and Wagner G. Increased excretion of a lipid peroxidation biomarker in autism. Prostoglandins, Leukotrienes, and Essential Fatty Acids 73 (2005) 379-384
32. Nataf R., Skorupka C., Amet L., Lam A., Springbett A., and Lathe R. Porphyrinuria in childhood autistic disorder: implications for environmental toxicity. Toxicology and Applied Pharmacology 214 (2006) 99-108
33. Oliveira G., Ataíde A., Marques C., Miguel T.S., Coutinho A.M., Mota-Vieira L., et al. Epidemiology of autism spectrum disorder in Portugal: prevalence, clinical characterization, and medical conditions. Developmental Medicine & Child Neurology 49 (2007) 726-733
34. Palmer R., Wood S., and Blanchard R. Proximity to point sources of environmental mercury release as a predictor of autism. Health & Place 15 1 (2009) 18-24
35. Pasca S., Nemes B., Vlase L., Gagyi C., Dronca E., Miu A., et al. High levels of homocysteine and low serum paraoxonase 1 arylesterase activity in children with autism. Life Science 78 (2006) 2244-2248
36. Poling J., Frye R., Shoffner J., and Zimmerman A.W. Developmental regression and mitochondrial dysfunction in a child with autism. Journal of Child Neurology 21 (2006) 170-172
37. Richler J., Luyster J., Risi R., Hsu S., Dawson W.L., Bernier G.R., et al. Is there a 'regressive phenotype' of Autism Spectrum Disorder associated with the measles-mumps-rubella vaccine? A CPEA study. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders 36 (2006) 299-316
38. Roberts E.M., English P.B., Grether J.K., Windham G.C., Somberg L., and Wolff C. Maternal residence near agricultural pesticide applications and autism spectrum disorders among children in the California Central Valley. Environmental Health Perspectives 115 (2007) 1482-1489
39. Ronald A., Happé F., and Plomin R. A twin study investigating the genetic and environmental aetiologies of parent, teacher and child ratings of autistic-like traits and their overlap. European Child & Adolescent Psychiatry 17 8 (2008) 473-483
40. Saeed M., Siddique N., Hung W., Usacheva E., Liu E., Sufit R., Heller S., et al. Paraoxonase cluster polymorphisms are associated with sporadic ALS. Neurology 67 (2006) 771-776
41. Santangelo S., and Tsatsanis K.L. What is known about autism: genes, brain, and behavior. American Journal of Pharmacogenetics 5 2 (2005) 71-92
42. Schechter R., and Grether J. Continuing increases in autism reported to California's Developmental Services System. Archives of General Psychiatry 65 (2008) 19-24
43. Serajee F.J., Nabi R., Zhong H., and Huq M. Polymorphisms in xenobiotic metabolism genes and autism. Journal of Child Neurology 19 (2004) 413-417
44. Shattuck P. Diagnostic substitution and changing autism prevalence. Pediatrics 117 (2006) 1438-1439
45. Shattuck P. The contribution of diagnostic substitution to the growing administrative prevalence of autism in US special education. Pediatrics 117 (2006) 1028-1037
46. Soden S., Lowrey J., Garrison C., and Wasserman G. 24-hour provoked urine excretion test for heavy metals in children with autism and typically developing controls, a pilot study. Clinical Toxicology 45 (2007) 476-481
47. Taniai H., Nishiyama T., Miyachi T., Imaeda M., and Sumi S. Genetic influences on the broad spectrum of autism: study of proband-ascertained twins. American Journal of Medical Genetics Part B (Neuropsychiatric Genetics) 147B (2008) 844-849
48. U.S. Census Bureau. People on the move: geographical mobility, 1999-2000; 2001. Retrieved August 10, 2008, from http://www.census.gov/population/www/pop-profile/files/2000/chap03.pdf.
49. Williams T., Mars A., Buyske S., Stenroos E., Wang R., Factura-Santiago M., et al. Risk of autistic disorder in affected offspring of mothers with glutathione S-transferase P1 haplotype. Archives of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine 161 (2007) 356-361
50. Yao Y., Walsh W., McGinnis W., and Praticò D. Altered vascular phenotype in autism: correlation with oxidative stress. Archives of Neurology 63 (2006) 1161-1164
51. Yeargin-Allsopp M., Rice C., Karapurkar T., Doernberg N., Boyle C., and Murphy C. Prevalence of autism in a US metropolitan area. Journal of the American Medical Association 289 (2003) 49-55
52. Yurong H., Dun X., and Xiurong X. Clinical analysis of 95 children with autistic disorder. Chinese Mental Health Journal 15 (2001) 396-397
53. Zoroglu S., Armutcu F., Ozen S., Gurel A., Sivasli E., Yetkin O., et al. Increased oxidative stress and altered activities of erythrocyte free radical scavenging enzymes in autism. European Archives of Psychiatry and Clinical Neuroscience 254 (2004) 143-147