Allergic manifestations in autistic children: Relation to disease severity

Abstract

Etiology of autism has become an area of significant controversy. Allergy may play a role in the pathogenesis of autism wherein allergic immune responses to some proteins (e.g., dietary proteins and latex) may induce the production of brain autoantibodies, which are found in many autistic children. This study was conducted to investigate the frequency of allergic manifestations in autistic children. The relationship between allergy and disease characteristics in terms of disease severity, clinical findings and electroencephalography (EEG) abnormalities was also studied. Fifty autistic children (30 had mild to moderate autism and 20 had severe autism) were studied in comparison to 50 age- and sex- matched children without neuropsychiatric manifestations serving as controls. Clinical evaluation was done with special emphasis on neuropsychiatric assessment and clinical manifestations of allergy. Serum total immunoglobulin E was measured in all studied subjects. In addition, EEG and assessment of mental age were done for all autistic children. Allergic manifestations (bronchial asthma, atopic dermatitis and/or allergic rhinitis) were found in 52% of autistic patients. This frequency was significantly higher than that of controls (10%; P