September 6, 2016.
According to a study by a team of researchers from the University of Auckland in New Zealand, cellular changes caused by autism can be reversed by zinc. Explanations.
Reverse cell deficits
Zinc, this trace element essential for children’s growth, could reverse the expression of a gene, Shank3, which is damaged in people with autism. This is what a study, published in the journal The Journal of Neuroscience. The researchers found that zinc could reverse communication deficits between brain cells, with the animals.
” Autism is associated with genetic changes that lead to changes in behavior Explains Johanna Montgomery, associate professor in the Department of Physiology at the University of Auckland and author of the study. ” It starts in the cells and is expressed at the behavioral level “.
Shank3 gene affected in people with autism
It would therefore now be interesting to test the benefits of zinc in people with autism. In 2014, researchers from the Institut Pasteur highlighted the fact that mutations affecting the Shank3 gene would affect more than one in 50 children with autism and intellectual disability. ” We are looking for ways to reverse these cellular deficits caused by changes in brain cells associated with autism Johanna Montgomery said.
Objective of the researchers: subjecting sick infants to a diet rich in zinc to see if this intake can prevent and stop the development of the disease. New studies on the subject should therefore follow.
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