Cholesterol,GM1, and Autism |
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| Authors: | Cara-Lynne Schengrund Fatima Ali-Rahmani Jeanette C Ramer |
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| Institution: | (1) Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, The Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine, Hershey, PA 17033, USA;(2) Departments of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology and Neurosurgery, The Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine, Hershey, PA 17033, USA;(3) Department of Pediatrics, The Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine, Hershey, PA 17033, USA |
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| Abstract: | Disruption of cholesterol metabolism has been hypothesized to contribute to dementia, possibly due to its role in maintaining
membrane fluidity as well as the integrity of lipid rafts. Previously, we reported an apparent inverse relationship between
membrane cholesterol levels and those of GM1, another lipid that can be found in rafts. This paper describes the observation
that red blood cell (RBC) membranes isolated from blood drawn from children diagnosed with autism have on the average significantly
less cholesterol and significantly more GM1 than RBC membranes isolated from blood obtained from control children. While cholesterol
in the circulation does not cross the blood brain barrier, a generalized defect in its synthesis could affect its concentration
in the central nervous system and that, coupled with a change in ganglioside expression, could contribute to development of
the behaviors associated with autism. |
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