Aluminium and Other Metals May Pose a Risk to Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder: Biochemical and Behavioural Impairments

Luana Melendez
2013 Clinical and Experimental Pharmacology  
Recent studies have shown that some toxic metals have been associated with neurological diseases. The binding and transport of these metals in the blood may occur by species of High Molecular Mass (HMM) and Low Molecular Weight Species (LMM) of proteins. These main species are known to be responsible for aluminum transporting is the case of transferrin and citrate. It seems that autistic children may have a genetic predisposition to accumulate large amounts of metals as it is has been proposed.
more » ... This study seeks to understand the toxic mechanism of selected metals in autistic children and its correlation with the psycho-metabolic implications of the syndrome. Preliminary results have indicated that some metals such as chromium, arsenic and particularly aluminum were elevated in the blood of an autistic child, as compared to reference values of a normal child. A case-control study is under investigation. Furthermore, the consequences of the disease, as such the difficulties in socialization and language skill disabilities may also be related to the burden of toxic metals in general, particularly aluminum.
doi:10.4172/2161-1459.1000120 fatcat:oas3mdh3mjgrppd5iacjwyg5ca