From HealthNewsDigest.com
Mutations in Autism Susceptibility Gene Increase Risk in Boys
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Jul 12, 2012 - 2:42:35 PM
(HealthNewsDigest.com) - ATLANTA--Researchers at Emory University School of Medicine have identified five rare mutations in a single gene that appear to increase the chances that a boy will develop an autism spectrum disorder (ASD).
Mutations in the AFF2 gene, and other genes like it on the X chromosome, may explain why autism spectrum disorders affect four times as many boys as girls.
The mutations in AFF2 appeared in 2.5 percent (5 out of 202) of boys examined. Mutations in X chromosome genes only affect boys, who have one X chromosome. Girls have a second copy of the gene that can compensate.
The results were published recently in the journal Human Molecular Genetics.
“Our data suggest that AFF2 could be one of the major X-linked risk factors for ASD’s,” says senior author Michael Zwick, PhD, assistant professor of human genetics at Emory University School of Medicine.
The finding bolsters a growing consensus among geneticists that rare variants in many different genes contribute significantly to risk for autism spectrum disorders. The mutations in the AFF2 gene probably do not cause ASDs all by themselves, Zwick says.
“We do not think that the variants we have identified are monogenic causes of autism,” he says. “Our data does support the idea that this is an autism susceptibility gene.”
Press release: http://news.emory.edu/stories/2012/07/mutation_in_autism_susceptibility_gene_increases_risk_in_boys/
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The Robert W. Woodruff Health Sciences Center (http://www.whsc.emory.edu/home/about) of Emory University is an academic health science and service center focusing on teaching, research, health care and public service.
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