Scientists To Discus Genetic Coding, Do All These Disorders Increase in Sporadic Cases, in Offspring of Older Fathers?

Local Scientists To Discus Genetic Coding
POSTED: 3:43 pm PDT June 9, 2007
UPDATED: 3:53 pm PDT June 9, 2007


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SAN DIEGO -- Scientists will meet in San Diego next week to compare notes on whether some particular human genes may be responsible for more than one type of disease.


Scientists have known for decades that genetic coding can make some people more likely to come down with particularly diseases, such as Tay-Sachs or sickle-cell anemia. The Federation of Clinical Immunology Societies next week will bring experts together to look into whether the same gene can cause widely differing types of hereditary illness.



Dr. Francis Collins of the National Human Genome Research Institute will present several studies about common gene abnormalities possibly linking inflammatory bowel disease, juvenile arthritis, multiple sclerosis, rheumatoid arthritis, systemic lupus and type 1 diabetes.


The meeting Monday will be at the Sheraton San Diego Resort & Marina.
POSTED: 3:43 pm PDT June 9, 2007
UPDATED: 3:53 pm PDT June 9, 2007

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Sign Up for Breaking News Alerts


SAN DIEGO -- Scientists will meet in San Diego next week to compare notes on whether some particular human genes may be responsible for more than one type of disease.


Scientists have known for decades that genetic coding can make some people more likely to come down with particularly diseases, such as Tay-Sachs or sickle-cell anemia. The Federation of Clinical Immunology Societies next week will bring experts together to look into whether the same gene can cause widely differing types of hereditary illness.



Dr. Francis Collins of the National Human Genome Research Institute will present several studies about common gene abnormalities possibly linking inflammatory bowel disease, juvenile arthritis, multiple sclerosis, rheumatoid arthritis, systemic lupus and type 1 diabetes.


The meeting Monday will be at the Sheraton San Diego Resort & Marina.

IS SEVERE AUTISM RELATED TO EARLY CHILDHOOD SCHIZOPHRENIA?

OBJECTIVE: Individuals with schizophrenia and their relatives tend to have either higher or lower than expected prevalences of autoimmune disorders, especially rheumatoid arthritis, celiac disease, autoimmune thyroid diseases, and type 1 diabetes. The purpose of the study was to estimate the association of schizophrenia with these disorders as well as a range of other autoimmune diseases in a single large epidemiologic study. METHOD: The Danish Psychiatric Register, the National Patient Register, and a register with socioeconomic information were linked to form a data file that included all 7,704 persons in Denmark diagnosed with schizophrenia from 1981 to 1998 and their parents along with a sample of matched comparison subjects and their parents. The data linkage required that the autoimmune disease occur before the diagnosis of schizophrenia. RESULTS: A history of any autoimmune disease was associated with a 45% increase in risk for schizophrenia. Nine autoimmune disorders had higher prevalence rates among patients with schizophrenia than among comparison subjects (crude incidence rate ratios ranging from 1.9 to 12.5), and 12 autoimmune diseases had higher prevalence rates among parents of schizophrenia patients than among parents of comparison subjects (adjusted incidence rate ratios ranging from 1.3 to 3.8). Thyrotoxicosis, celiac disease, acquired hemolytic anemia, interstitial cystitis, and Sjögren’s syndrome had higher prevalence rates among patients with schizophrenia than among comparison subjects and also among family members of schizophrenia patients than among family members of comparison subjects. CONCLUSIONS: Schizophrenia is associated with a larger range of autoimmune diseases than heretofore suspected. Future research on comorbidity has the potential to advance understanding of pathogenesis of both psychiatric and autoimmune disorders.

"Autoimmune" Disorders In Relatives and Autism, Older Fathers in Prior Generations are Implicated

J Child Neurol. 1999 Jun;14(6):388-94. Links
Familial clustering of autoimmune disorders and evaluation of medical risk factors in autism.Comi AM, Zimmerman AW, Frye VH, Law PA, Peeden JN.
Johns Hopkins Hospital, Division of Pediatric Neurology, Baltimore, MD 21212, USA. acomimd@aol.com
Autism is an age-dependent neurologic disorder that is often associated with autoimmune disorders in the patients' relatives. To evaluate the frequency of autoimmune disorders, as well as various prenatal and postnatal events in autism, we surveyed the families of 61 autistic patients and 46 healthy controls using questionnaires. The mean number of autoimmune disorders was greater in families with autism; 46% had two or more members with autoimmune disorders. As the number of family members with autoimmune disorders increased from one to three, the risk of autism was greater, with an odds ratio that increased from 1.9 to 5.5, respectively. In mothers and first-degree relatives of autistic children, there were more autoimmune disorders (16% and 21%) as compared to controls (2% and 4%), with odds ratios of 8.8 and 6.0, respectively. The most common autoimmune disorders in both groups were type 1 diabetes, adult rheumatoid arthritis, hypothyroidism, and systemic lupus erythematosus. Forty-six percent of the autism group reported having relatives with rheumatoid diseases, as compared to 26% of the controls. Prenatal maternal urinary tract, upper respiratory, and vaginal infections; asphyxia; prematurity, and seizures were more common in the autistic group, although the differences were not significant. Thirty-nine percent of the controls, but only 11% of the autistic, group, reported allergies. An increased number of autoimmune disorders suggests that in some families with autism, immune dysfunction could interact with various environmental factors to play a role in autism pathogenesis.

PMID: 10385847 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE