Research has found that about one in five children with autism is caused by a specific combination of antibodies in the mother’s blood that mistakenly injures the developing fetal brain. The new study has developed a test kit that can detect these combinations of antibodies with up to 100 percent accuracy.
Previously, researchers had assumed that antibodies or protective white blood cells in the mother’s blood would not injure the developing fetal brain, but a 2019 study found a clear link between the two.
The new study, a collaboration between the University of California, Davis, and Stanford University, analyzed plasma samples from hundreds of mothers, 450 of whom had children diagnosed with autism and 342 of whom did not have children diagnosed with autism, to identify eight key suspect proteins, the ones most likely to affect the fetal brain.
The researchers developed a detection tool with the help of an artificial intelligence deep learning system to identify these various combinations of antibodies that could cause autism and the risk ranking.
The researchers say the tool is up to 100 percent accurate in measuring various combinations of antibodies from blood, but of course, the researchers say the presence or absence of these antibody combinations does not mean that the possibility of fetal autism is completely established or ruled out.
“For example, a mother with the antibodies CRIMP1 and GDA (one of the most common combinations) has 31 times the risk of her child developing autism compared to others, from the data available. That’s a pretty big difference.” One of the lead researchers, Judy Van de Water of the University of California, Davis, said, “There are few tools available that can do this level of assessment.”
The symptoms of autism in children are complex, ranging from multiple behavioral deficits to social impairments, and from mild to severe, which can be detrimental to a child’s development and cause great anxiety for Parents.
With this tool, women can be tested before they become pregnant and know that their children are at higher risk for autism if they are found to have these antibodies, says Vander Walt.
The study was published Jan. 22 in the journal Molecular Psychiatry.
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