Wanna cure autism? Have a smoke!!

Post Reply New Topic

Nicotine Addiction and Autism

Shared brain protein link.




Scientists have identified a relationship between two proteins in the brain that has links to both nicotine addiction and autism. The finding, presented at the Society for Neuroscience Meeting in November, has led to speculation that existing drugs used to curb nicotine addiction might serve as the basis for potential therapies to alleviate the symptoms of autism.

The discovery identified a defining role for a protein made by the neurexin-1 gene, which is located in brain cells and assists in connecting neurons as part of the brain's chemical communication system. The job of the neurexin-1 beta protein is to lure another protein, a specific type of nicotinic acetylcholine receptor, to the synapses, where the receptor then has a role in helping neurons communicate signals among themselves and to the rest of the body.

This function is important in autism because previous research has shown that people with autism have a shortage of these nicotinic receptors in their brains. Meanwhile, scientists also know that people who are addicted to nicotine have too many of these receptors in their brains.

"If we were to use drugs that mimic the actions of nicotine at an early time in human brain development, would we begin to help those and other circuits develop properly and thus significantly mitigate the deficits in autism? This is a novel way of thinking about how we might be able to use drugs to approach autism treatment," said Rene Anand, PhD, associate professor of pharmacology in Ohio State University's College of Medicine and principal investigator of the research.

"It would not be a complete cure, but right now we know very little and have no drugs that tackle the primary causes of autism," he said.

The drugs in question are known as cholinergic agents, which interact with the brain to counter nicotine addiction. Dr. Anand said the medications could be retailored for use in children in an effort to increase the level of neurexin-1 beta protein in the brains of people with autism.

More neurexin would in turn not only enhance the presence of nicotinic acetylcholine receptors, but also a host of other proteins that are important for the proper formation and maturation of synapses. Proper synapse function is critical to the nervous system's ability to connect to and control other systems of the body.

"Now that these associations have been made, we believe that nicotine in smokers' brains possibly increases the level of neurexin-1 and, as a consequence, helps bring more receptors to the synapses and makes those circuits highly efficient, reinforcing the addiction. In autism, we have the opposite problem. We have a lack of these receptors, and we speculate that neurexin levels are lower," he said.

Autism symptoms include impaired social interaction, problems with verbal and nonverbal communication, and repetitive or severely limited activities and interests. An estimated three to six of every 1,000 children are diagnosed with autism, and boys are four times more likely than girls to have the disorder, according to the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke.

Dr. Anand and colleagues were studying drug abuse and addiction when they discovered the neurexin-1 beta protein's relationship to a certain type of nicotinic receptor. The timing of the discovery was key, as it built upon two other research groups' previous observations: The brains of people with autism and other neurological disorders that were examined after their death showed a 60-percent to 70-percent decrease in specific nicotinic receptors, and some patients with autism have mutations in the neurexin-1 gene that suggest the gene's improper functions could play a role in the disorder.

"These have all been 'association studies.' None has been able to prove what causes autism," Dr. Anand said. "And then we accidentally discovered that neurexin-1 and nicotinic receptors tangle. So we knew that there was a genetic link to the process leading to synapse formation, and we had nicotinic receptors that had disappeared in the brains of autistic patients. Our finding filled a gap by saying there is a physical and functional association between these two things occurring in the brain."

Neurexin has implications for tobacco addicts, as well, he said. Yet another group of researchers recently found that people with a mutation in the neurexin-1 gene were more likely to be smokers, meaning changes in the gene's functions that lead to excess levels of the nicotinic receptors might make people more susceptible to nicotine addiction.

"Our research reveals how changes in the functions of neurexin could affect the guidance of nicotinic acetylcholine receptors to their functional destinations in nerve cells, perhaps increasing receptors in tobacco addicts while decreasing them in autistic individuals, thus increasing susceptibility to these devastating neurological disorders," he said.

The finding also has implications for nicotine addiction because drugs known to alter neurexin's guidance of nicotinic receptors within nerve cells could be used to suppress tobacco addiction.

The research was partially funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse, the National Alliance for Research on Schizophrenia and Depression, and by an OSU Medical Center Research Day Travel Award.

Coauthors of the study are Stephanie Amici and Susan McKay of Ohio State's Department of Pharmacology; Shi-Bin Cheng, Xiao-Qin Ren, Magdalen Treuil and Jay Rao of the Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center in New Orleans; and Jon Lindstrom of the University of Pennsylvania.

http://speech-language-pathology-audiol ... ?CC=190525
----------------------------------------


*lights up a cigarette*

It doesn't surprise me. There are also studies that suggest that smoking increases short-term memory.

Don't smoke!

I smoke and have found that nicotine has no effect on my aspergers one way or another. However, I have heard that nicotine is a great treatment for tourette syndrome.

I heard smoking cures cancer

LOL

I doubt anybody here thinks that smoking is healthy or that few good benefits that smoking might offer outweigh the ills they do cause.

i've heard smoking pot helps in preventing the damage to cells that causes cancer to occur....but that could just be one of the BS miracle cures that pot doesn't really do.

The same way that "cannabisophobes" like to claim marijuana does all these terrible extreme things, many stoners like to claim that weed is a miracle drug. Really, pot has many benefits and some harms. It is not a harmful drug but at the same time it is not harmless.

of course. which is why i'm skeptical about it.

anything that uses the term "canabinoids" or some variation thereof, i'm fairly skeptical about. though i think the claim of pot causing the bronchi to dilate was verified...but i'd have to look that up again sometime to be sure.

cigerettes definitely improve short term memory, thats one of the main reasons people smoke, to help them think. i think thats with almost anything you smoke though, maybe just sticking something in your mouth does it

I'm an asthmatic and I smoke the reefa "I know that's dumb of me" but weed does not help my asthma. However I've talked to other asthmatics who claimed it helped their asthma. Weed does help my stress, depression, and helps me act more "NT". I've read studies that showed that long term abuse of weed caused your neurons to space apart. I've read other studies that showed weed helped prevent the plaque formation that causes alzeimers. Though I believe that weed is not very dangerous at all, nothing is harmless.

how do they consume it? if you eliminate the irritants, there may be more benefit. in other words, try eating or vaporizing it instead of normal smoking. vaporizing would be very beneficial because it's smokeless and doesn't irritate the lungs..but if you can't afford that, edibles is an option.

consuming smoke will damage your lungs no matter what.

weed is the best stuff in the world
1 there is no doubt it increases creativity, creative thoughts, painting or anything for creativity
2 food is better, tv is better, music is waay better, work is better, anything
3 it gives you something great to look forward too
4 ive read more studies saying it prevents one of my biggest fears altheimers and another huge fear, cancer
5 again, everythings better. im always happy when im stoned, i could be writing a 10 page essay and i will be happy though it probly wont turn out looking too intelligent

yeah but remembering it afterwards is sometimes hit or miss...not to mention normally pieces have less direction...though that can be cleared up by making changes sober afterwards.



yeah, pretty much. work isn't always better, though...but then again, i tend to have a mass of things come my way so feeling slowed down hinders the process a bit. i know i'd never say it helps work...but i'm sure it could for some. especially repetitious work.



so does sex, so does saving up to buy yourself or someone else something, so does scheduling a party or a concert to go see...but yeah, it can fit into that laundry list.




we were just discussing cancer earlier...do you have any recent sources for this? and i haven't heard alzheimer's but i've heard it protects against brain damage during a stroke but again, not clear on the details...something about preventing damage to specific receptors in the brain.




mostly...but making such claims isn't wise because prohibitionists love to use that as a wedge to be able to isolate a couple bad incidents as being an issue and take the childish "your literal word is wrong so HA!" kind of response.

yes but then I can forget my crappy past, !

I used to smoke tobacco. I still smoke occasionally, though no longer have the physical addictions. I didn't find it to help my stimming or anything else.

Now pot. When I started smoking it, I became a bit more confident. My mind opened up. Then I combined it with LSD and developed HPPD. Can't smoke it anymore. But yes, it did help me, a lot.

Peace.