Autism, Yeast Infection

The liver is part of the digestive system and can produce literally hundreds of different enzymes to convert [metabolise] various nutrients, chemicals, drugs etc. Vitamins and trace minerals are also required in this process; synthesising vitamins and absorption of minerals are impaired with the autistic condition.

If the body doesn’t have a detoxification pathway for a particular substance or if the pathway is impaired, then that particular substance will accumulate.

Genes control enzyme production. The more genes are activated, the higher the production capacity of certain enzymes Food can trigger gene activation [expression]

By understanding say a drug’s metabolic pathway, you understand which enzymes are required to metabolise and detoxify the body. If you then look at the rate of expression of the gene responsible for that enzyme, you understand how well the patient is able to process a particular drug. Enzymes are required to process environmental toxins and the same mechanisms that apply to drugs apply to environmental toxins. Depending on whether a person makes a particular enzyme will depend on how well they process certain xenobiotics (biologically active compounds absorbed from outside the body).

A healthy person with plenty of the right enzyme may have no problem with a relatively high concentration of a particular environmental toxin, while another healthy person who genetically makes far less of the enzyme may find that the toxin quickly accumulates and generates chronic illness.

This is not a genetic fault, if anything in some individuals the Autistic condition could be complicated by a genetic trait that limits enzyme production. A parallel would be: fair skinned people are more susceptible to sunburn; the problem is with each case external and acquired.

Yeast produces a highly toxic metabolite called gliotoxin. Among its toxic mechanisms it inactivates a number of important enzymes including Alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH) the dehydrogenase family of enzymes are needed to metabolise alcohols including acetaldehyde which is a highly toxic by-product of yeast production and is responsible for many autistic symptoms. Gliotoxin also induces apoptosis [cell death] in a variety of immune cell types and is highly immunosuppressive.

Although this particularly nasty vicious cycle explains the mechanism by which victims of autism accumulate metals it is now known that chronic infection impairs other vitally important metabolic pathways. Although research is scarce mice studies show that intestinal micro-flora is a major factor determining the excretion rate of mercury Other research has shown that the P450 group of liver enzymes is downgraded by inflammation associated with infection.

Controlling inflammation is a primary aim in treating Autism

[update May 2007] A yeast infection in older children and adults is known as “CHRONIC FATIGUE IMMUNE DYSFUNCTION SYNDROME (CFIDS)” [see Dr Cranton references] One other very telling test result is the recently found fact that

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