Aminoglycoside antibiotics and autism: a speculative hypothesis
<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Recently, it has been suspected that there is a relationship between therapy with some antibiotics and the onset of autism; but even more curious, some children benefited transiently from a subsequent treatment with a different antib...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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BMC
2001-10-01
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| Series: | BMC Psychiatry |
| Online Access: | http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-244X/1/5 |
| _version_ | 1811320553814884352 |
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| author | Manev Hari Manev Radmila |
| author_facet | Manev Hari Manev Radmila |
| author_sort | Manev Hari |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | <p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Recently, it has been suspected that there is a relationship between therapy with some antibiotics and the onset of autism; but even more curious, some children benefited transiently from a subsequent treatment with a different antibiotic. Here, we speculate how aminoglycoside antibiotics might be associated with autism.</p> <p>Presentation</p> <p>We hypothesize that aminoglycoside antibiotics could a) trigger the autism syndrome in susceptible infants by causing the stop codon readthrough, i.e., a misreading of the genetic code of a hypothetical critical gene, and/or b) improve autism symptoms by correcting the premature stop codon mutation in a hypothetical polymorphic gene linked to autism.</p> <p>Testing</p> <p>Investigate, retrospectively, whether a link exists between aminoglycoside use (which is not extensive in children) and the onset of autism symptoms (hypothesis "a"), or between amino glycoside use and improvement of these symptoms (hypothesis "b"). Whereas a prospective study to test hypothesis "a" is not ethically justifiable, a study could be designed to test hypothesis "b".</p> <p>Implications</p> <p>It should be stressed that at this stage no direct evidence supports our speculative hypothesis and that its main purpose is to initiate development of new ideas that, eventually, would improve our understanding of the pathobiology of autism.</p> |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-13T13:01:27Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-05c0eed216334223a70cefd01faa5591 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1471-244X |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-13T13:01:27Z |
| publishDate | 2001-10-01 |
| publisher | BMC |
| record_format | Article |
| series | BMC Psychiatry |
| spelling | doaj.art-05c0eed216334223a70cefd01faa55912022-12-22T02:45:53ZengBMCBMC Psychiatry1471-244X2001-10-0111510.1186/1471-244X-1-5Aminoglycoside antibiotics and autism: a speculative hypothesisManev HariManev Radmila<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Recently, it has been suspected that there is a relationship between therapy with some antibiotics and the onset of autism; but even more curious, some children benefited transiently from a subsequent treatment with a different antibiotic. Here, we speculate how aminoglycoside antibiotics might be associated with autism.</p> <p>Presentation</p> <p>We hypothesize that aminoglycoside antibiotics could a) trigger the autism syndrome in susceptible infants by causing the stop codon readthrough, i.e., a misreading of the genetic code of a hypothetical critical gene, and/or b) improve autism symptoms by correcting the premature stop codon mutation in a hypothetical polymorphic gene linked to autism.</p> <p>Testing</p> <p>Investigate, retrospectively, whether a link exists between aminoglycoside use (which is not extensive in children) and the onset of autism symptoms (hypothesis "a"), or between amino glycoside use and improvement of these symptoms (hypothesis "b"). Whereas a prospective study to test hypothesis "a" is not ethically justifiable, a study could be designed to test hypothesis "b".</p> <p>Implications</p> <p>It should be stressed that at this stage no direct evidence supports our speculative hypothesis and that its main purpose is to initiate development of new ideas that, eventually, would improve our understanding of the pathobiology of autism.</p>http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-244X/1/5 |
| spellingShingle | Manev Hari Manev Radmila Aminoglycoside antibiotics and autism: a speculative hypothesis BMC Psychiatry |
| title | Aminoglycoside antibiotics and autism: a speculative hypothesis |
| title_full | Aminoglycoside antibiotics and autism: a speculative hypothesis |
| title_fullStr | Aminoglycoside antibiotics and autism: a speculative hypothesis |
| title_full_unstemmed | Aminoglycoside antibiotics and autism: a speculative hypothesis |
| title_short | Aminoglycoside antibiotics and autism: a speculative hypothesis |
| title_sort | aminoglycoside antibiotics and autism a speculative hypothesis |
| url | http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-244X/1/5 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT manevhari aminoglycosideantibioticsandautismaspeculativehypothesis AT manevradmila aminoglycosideantibioticsandautismaspeculativehypothesis |