A Study of Nuclear Transcription Factor-Kappa B in Childhood Autism

BACKGROUND: Several children with autism show regression in language and social development while maintaining normal motor milestones. A clear period of normal development followed by regression and subsequent improvement with treatment, suggests a multifactorial etiology. The role of inflammation in autism is now a major area of study. Viral and bacterial infections, hypoxia, or medication could affect both foetus and infant. These stressors could upregulate transcription factors like nuclear factor kappa B (NF-κB), a master switch for many genes including some implicated in autism like tumor necrosis factor (TNF). On this hypothesis, it was proposed to determine NF-κB in children with autism. METHODS: Peripheral blood samples of 67 children with autism and 29 control children were evaluated for NF-κB using electrophoretic mobility shift assay (EMSA). A phosphor imaging technique was used to quantify values. The fold increase over the control sample was calculated and statistical analysis was carried out using SPSS 15. RESULTS: We have noted significant increase in NF-κB DNA binding activity in peripheral blood samples of children with autism. When the fold increase of NF-κB in cases (n = 67) was compared with that of controls (n = 29), there was a significant difference (3.14 vs. 1.40, respectively; p<0.02). CONCLUSION: This finding has immense value in understanding many of the known biochemical changes reported in autism. As NF-κB is a response to stressors of several kinds and a master switch for many genes, autism may then arise at least in part from an NF-κB pathway gone awry

FC05-06 - Comparison of two-year outcomes for children with autism receiving high versus low-intensity behavioral intervention

IntroductionBehavioral intervention is an evidence-based treatment for children with autism but there still exists some disagreement regarding how intensive the treatment needs to be. Little previous research has directly compared the effects of high to low-intensity behavioral intervention.ObjectivesTo compare the effects of high versus low-intensity behavioral intervention.AimsCompare outcomes in the area of diagnostic classification, intellectual functioning, executive functions, challenging behavior, language, socialization, and independent living skills after two years of treatment.Methods60 children with autism, under five years old, comprised two groups who received behavioral intervention services. The high-intensity group received 25–35 hours per week for two years and the low-intensity group received 8–15 hours per week of treatment. For all participants, a comprehensive battery of assessments was conducted prior to treatment and at annual intervals.ResultsThe high-intensity group outperformed the low-intensity group on all measures after two years of treatment.ConclusionsThis study provides further evidence that high intensity behavioral intervention produces greater gains than low-intensity treatment and the results suggest that children with autism under the age of five years should receive access to high-intensity treatment</jats:sec