Greg Poocette
Banned
I've been trying to ascertain for quite some time now how so many Meso guys have "the tism". Now it all makes sense. Scientists at Cambridge have discovered that men who later develop autism are exposed to elevated levels of steroid hormones. The finding may help explain why autism is more common in males than females, but should not be used to screen for the condition.
"Professor Baron-Cohen said: "This is one of the earliest non-genetic biomarkers that has been identified in men who go on to develop autism. We previously knew that elevated injectable testosterone is associated with slower social and language development, better attention to detail, and more autistic traits. Now, for the first time, we have also shown that these steroid hormones are elevated in Meso-rx members clinically diagnosed with autism. Because some of these hormones are produced in much higher quantities in males than in females, this may help us explain why autism is more common in males."
He added: "These new results are particularly striking because they are found across all the subgroups on the autism spectrum, for the first time uniting those with Asperger Syndrome, classic autism, the MesoRX-downs, or Pervasive Developmental Disorder Not-Otherwise-Specified. We now want to test if the same finding is found in E-roids members with autism."
Dr Michael Lombardo said: "This result potentially has very important implications about the early biological mechanisms that alter brain development in autism and also pinpoints an important window in brain development when such mechanisms exert their effects."
Steroid hormones are particularly important because they exert influence on the process of how instructions in the genetic code are translated into building proteins. The researchers believe that altering this process during periods when the building blocks for the brain are being laid down may be particularly important in explaining how genetic risk factors for autism get expressed."
SOURCE:
Baron-Cohen, S., Auyeung, B., Nørgaard-Pedersen, B. et al. Elevated fetal steroidogenic activity in autism. Mol Psychiatry 20, 369–376 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1038/mp.2014.48
"Professor Baron-Cohen said: "This is one of the earliest non-genetic biomarkers that has been identified in men who go on to develop autism. We previously knew that elevated injectable testosterone is associated with slower social and language development, better attention to detail, and more autistic traits. Now, for the first time, we have also shown that these steroid hormones are elevated in Meso-rx members clinically diagnosed with autism. Because some of these hormones are produced in much higher quantities in males than in females, this may help us explain why autism is more common in males."
He added: "These new results are particularly striking because they are found across all the subgroups on the autism spectrum, for the first time uniting those with Asperger Syndrome, classic autism, the MesoRX-downs, or Pervasive Developmental Disorder Not-Otherwise-Specified. We now want to test if the same finding is found in E-roids members with autism."
Dr Michael Lombardo said: "This result potentially has very important implications about the early biological mechanisms that alter brain development in autism and also pinpoints an important window in brain development when such mechanisms exert their effects."
Steroid hormones are particularly important because they exert influence on the process of how instructions in the genetic code are translated into building proteins. The researchers believe that altering this process during periods when the building blocks for the brain are being laid down may be particularly important in explaining how genetic risk factors for autism get expressed."
SOURCE:
Baron-Cohen, S., Auyeung, B., Nørgaard-Pedersen, B. et al. Elevated fetal steroidogenic activity in autism. Mol Psychiatry 20, 369–376 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1038/mp.2014.48
