ADAM FEINSTEIN, Editor, Looking Up: The emphasis of your research is on mechanisms, rather than interventions. What interventions are made available for autistic children by your findings?  Also, there appears to be no specificity control:  how can you be sure that it is not the stress experienced by children with autism which is leading to the unusual immunological status, rather than the unusual immunological condition being causal?

Dr CYNTHIA MOLLOY: A causal role for immune dysfunction in autism has never been established. Thus far, we have demonstrated an association. It will take studies of potential mechanisms to determine if the relationship is indeed causal. An association such as we describe could  be a secondary finding that might result from linkage disequilibrium of different genetic elements which confer susceptibility to autism and immune dysregulation. An association would also be observed if a specific environmental agent caused disruption of both the developing immune and nervous systems. If immune dysregulation is in the causal pathway for autism, and IL-10 is involved, there are therapies already developed such as glatiramer acetate that increases IL-10 production and is effective in ameliorating the course of multiple sclerosis ...

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