PRESS-NEWS.org - Press Release Distribution
PRESS RELEASES DISTRIBUTION

Autism and language impairment genetically linked

Rutgers University scientists also find strong evidence of a genetic connection in areas of social skills and repetitive behaviors

2013-10-30
(Press-News.org) Contact information: Robin Lally
rlally@ucm.rutgers.edu
732-932-7084 x652
Rutgers University
Autism and language impairment genetically linked Rutgers University scientists also find strong evidence of a genetic connection in areas of social skills and repetitive behaviors Lorenzo Miodus-Santini an 11-year-old sixth-grader from Princeton, who was classified as autistic at only 13 months old, was never a big talker. As an infant he didn't babble or coo. When he was a toddler beginning to speak, he would learn one word but forget another.

His older brother, Christian, a 15-year-old high school sophomore, shared some similar characteristics – difficulty with reading, processing words and speaking clearly. Doctors said he had language impairments but was not autistic.

New research published online today in the American Journal of Psychiatry, by scientists at Rutgers University and The Research Institute at Nationwide Children's Hospital in Ohio, reveals that there is a genetic link connecting family members with autism like Lorenzo Miodus-Santini to those like his brother, Christian, who have specific language impairment characterized by speech and language difficulties that can't be explained by cognitive or physical problems.

The research project leader Linda Brzustowicz, Rutgers professor and chair of the Department of Genetics, in the School of Arts and Sciences, says that genes in a narrow region of two chromosomes (15q23-26 and 16p12) responsible for oral and written language impairments can result in similar behavioral characteristics with one family member developing autism and the other having only language difficulties.

Specific language impairment is one of the most common learning disabilities, affecting an estimated 7 percent of children. It is not considered to be an autism spectrum disorder. Autism effects one in 88 children nationally – with nearly five times as many boys than girls diagnosed – about half of whom have some degree of language impairment.

"In this group of families we are trying to find genetic factors that might connect them," says Brzustowicz, who collaborated on the study with Christopher W. Bartell, principal investigator in the Battelle Center for Mathematical Medicine at Nationwide Children's Hospital. "This research is important because it is hard to understand autism until we find the genes that might be involved."

While scientists don't believe that there is one single gene that causes autism but rather a number of genes that increase the risk, Brzustowicz and her team of researchers are working to identify genetic patterns in these families in order to help gain a better understanding of the mechanisms that lead to autism, a developmental brain disorder that appears in the first three years of life.

In the Rutgers autism study, 79 families – mostly from New Jersey and Pennsylvania – with one child with autism and at least one with specific language impairment underwent extensive in-home testing. Besides taking blood samples for genetic testing, family members including parents, children, and grandparents and in some cases even uncles, aunts and cousins underwent a battery of tests to assess grammar, vocabulary and language processing.

"Our results indicate that there are shared patterns of DNA and visible behavioral characteristics across our group of study families," says Judy Flax, an associate research professor working on the study with Brzustowicz.

In addition to the language findings, researchers also found strong evidence of a genetic link in the areas of obsessive-compulsive, repetitive behaviors and social interaction skills, other symptoms associated with autism.

Brzustowicz says the next step will be to sequence the whole genome of those who participated in the study in order to compare the families to see if scientists can pinpoint any specific genes or mutations that are common to all.

It is part of a long-term collaboration between scientists from Rutgers and Nationwide Children's Hospital, as well as scientists, data experts and physicians from Rutgers, Saint Peter's University Hospital in New Brunswick and the Rutgers University Cell and DNA Repository (RUCDR).

Brzustowicz and her team have been studying the genetic influences of autism on families for the past decade – recently receiving a $2.2 million five-year grant from the state last year. They are opening the study to new families with autism as they continue the study over the next four years.

"This is just the beginning," says Brzustowicz. "We are finding evidence of genetic similarities with the hopes of being able to identify targets that might respond to pharmacological treatments."

INFORMATION:

END



ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

Warm winters let trees sleep longer

2013-10-30
Warm winters let trees sleep longer Climate change alters timing of spring growth in forests In the temperate zones, vegetation follows the change of the seasons. After a winter pause, plants put out new growth in spring. Research has now brought ...

New substance effectively combats multi-resistant bacteria

2013-10-30
New substance effectively combats multi-resistant bacteria MULTI-RESISTANCE: In Europe alone, more than 25,000 people die each year from infections caused by multi-resistant bacteria. Researchers from University of Copenhagen have now developed and characterized ...

Moral in the morning, but dishonest in the afternoon

2013-10-30
Moral in the morning, but dishonest in the afternoon Our ability to exhibit self-control to avoid cheating or lying is significantly reduced over the course of a day, making us more likely to be dishonest in the afternoon than in the ...

Institute explores intimate partner violence across generations

2013-10-30
Institute explores intimate partner violence across generations HUNTSVILLE, TX (10/30/13) -- Most parents who experienced intimate partner violence had children that grew to face violence in their own adult relationships, according to a study published by the Crime ...

How fat could help solve part of the diabetes problem

2013-10-29
How fat could help solve part of the diabetes problem The pancreas is a large organ that wraps around our gut, and produces the exact amount of insulin our bodies need when we eat – except when we start to develop diabetes, and insulin production ...

Did brain tumor stem cells originate from malignant neural stem cells?

2013-10-29
Did brain tumor stem cells originate from malignant neural stem cells? Although it is believed that glioma is derived from brain tumor stem cells, the source and molecular signal pathways of these cells are still unclear. The potential of neural stem cells to ...

Association between glioma susceptibility and XRCC1 Arg399Gln polymorphism

2013-10-29
Association between glioma susceptibility and XRCC1 Arg399Gln polymorphism DNA damage is an important mechanism of glioma. X-ray cross-complementing group 1 (XRCC1) is a DNA repair gene that participates in the base excision repair pathway. To date, many studies ...

A new DNA vaccine induces a Th2 immune response in Alzheimer's disease mice

2013-10-29
A new DNA vaccine induces a Th2 immune response in Alzheimer's disease mice Amyloid-beta (Aβ) active immunization in Alzheimer's disease can increase the rate of Aβ clearance, and delay cognitive dysfunction, but it is easy to induce meningoencephalitis, ...

New drug to help common bowel disease

2013-10-29
New drug to help common bowel disease An international team led by University of Adelaide researchers has identified the mechanism of pain relief of a new drug for treating Irritable Bowel Syndrome with Constipation (IBS-C), based on nonclinical ...

Human immune system shapes skin microbiome

2013-10-29
Human immune system shapes skin microbiome October 29, 2013 -- Our skin plays host to millions of beneficial and potentially disease-causing microorganisms; however, whether our immune system influences these microbial communities to prevent disease is ...

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:

Exercise as an anti-ageing intervention to avoid detrimental impact of mental fatigue

UMass Amherst Nursing Professor Emerita honored as ‘Living Legend’

New guidelines aim to improve cystic fibrosis screening

Picky eaters by day, buffet by night: Butterfly, moth diets sync to plant aromas

Pennington Biomedical’s Dr. Leanne Redman honored with the E. V. McCollum Award from the American Society for Nutrition

CCNY physicists uncover electronic interactions mediated via spin waves

Researchers’ 3D-printing formula may transform future of foam

Nurture more important than nature for robotic hand

Drug-delivering aptamers target leukemia stem cells for one-two knockout punch

New study finds that over 95% of sponsored influencer posts on Twitter were not disclosed

New sea grant report helps great lakes fish farmers navigate aquaculture regulations

Strain “trick” improves perovskite solar cells’ efficiency

How GPS helps older drivers stay on the roads

Estrogen and progesterone stimulate the body to make opioids

Dancing with the cells – how acoustically levitating a diamond led to a breakthrough in biotech automation

Machine learning helps construct an evolutionary timeline of bacteria

Cellular regulator of mRNA vaccine revealed... offering new therapeutic options

Animal behavioral diversity at risk in the face of declining biodiversity

Finding their way: GPS ignites independence in older adult drivers

Antibiotic resistance among key bacterial species plateaus over time

‘Some insects are declining but what’s happening to the other 99%?’

Powerful new software platform could reshape biomedical research by making data analysis more accessible

Revealing capillaries and cells in living organs with ultrasound

American College of Physicians awards $260,000 in grants to address equity challenges in obesity care

Researchers from MARE ULisboa discover that the European catfish, an invasive species in Portugal, has a prolonged breeding season, enhancing its invasive potential

Rakesh K. Jain, PhD, FAACR, honored with the 2025 AACR Award for Lifetime Achievement in Cancer Research

Solar cells made of moon dust could power future space exploration

Deporting immigrants may further shrink the health care workforce

Border region emergency medical services in migrant emergency care

Resident physician intentions regarding unionization

[Press-News.org] Autism and language impairment genetically linked
Rutgers University scientists also find strong evidence of a genetic connection in areas of social skills and repetitive behaviors