NICHD Investigates Connection Between Low Blood Cholesterol and Autism in Children
By: Nicole Martino
Episode # 34
Uploaded: December 11, 2009
Running Time: 3:40
MARTINO: From the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland, this is CLINICAL CENTER RADIO. Autism spectrum disorders are typically defined as a group of developmental disabilities that can cause significant social, communication and behavioral challenges. The Centers for Disease Control estimate that an average of 1 in 150 children in the United States have an autism spectrum disorder. Unfortunately, much is unknown about the causes and risk factors of autism, although a quick search on clinicialtrials.gov for autism studies yields almost 200 results. Dr. Forbes Porter, from the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development is a principal investigator of one of those studies, a study at the NIH Clinical Center that is investigating the connection between autism and low blood cholesterol.
PORTER: We got interested in autism because we study another rare disease, a very rare disease, called Smith-Lemli-Opitz Syndrome in which there is a problem in cholesterol formation, children's bodies don't make enough cholesterol. Those patients frequently have autistic symptoms, so initially we were interested in finding out whether we could find Smith-Lemli-Opitz patients in children who had previously only been diagnosed with autism. We didn't find the Smith-Lemli-Opitz patients but we found that a higher then expected percentage of children with autism had low cholesterol.
MARTINO: The study plans to enroll children between the ages of 4 and 11 who have been diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder.
PORTER: Autism spectrum disorders encompass children who have problems in certain domains of interaction, communication, social interaction and they can often have sort of repetitive activities.
MARTINO: The study involves blood drawing, multiple questionnaires, and behavioral assessments. This study is a multi center trial, in addition to the NIH Clinical Center it is also being conducted at Ohio State University and the Kennedy Krieger Institute in Baltimore, Maryland. This study is also sponsored in part by Autism Speaks, one of the nation's largest autism science and advocacy organizations dedicated to funding research into the causes, prevention, treatments and cure for autism.
PORTER: It may give us an insight into a small subet of autistic patients on what might be causing or underlying the autism in those children. It will also teach us whether in that small group of autistic patients, because the majority do not have low cholesterol, whether we can improve their symptoms by giving them cholesterol.
MARTINO: If you would like more information about this study or one of the approximately 1,500 other studies offered at the NIH Clinical Center, log on to http://clinicalcenter.nih.gov, or e-mail prpl@mail.cc.nih.gov. You may also call our call center toll free at 1-800-411-1222. From America's Clinical Research Hospital, this has been CLINICAL CENTER RADIO. In Bethesda, Maryland, I'm Nicole Martino at the National Institutes of Health, an agency of the United States Department of Health and Human Services.
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