Leboyer M, Bouvard M P, Recasens C, Philippe A, Guilloud-Bataille M, Bondoux D, Tabuteau F, Dugas M, Panksepp J, Launay J M
Hôpital Robert Debré, Université de Paris VII, France.
Am J Psychiatry. 1994 Dec;151(12):1797-801. doi: 10.1176/ajp.151.12.1797.
The authors investigated whether there is excessive opioid activity in infantile autism by measuring plasma beta-endorphin in patients with autism compared with patients who had Rett's syndrome and normal comparison subjects.
Radioimmunoassays for beta-endorphin using C-terminally and N-terminally directed antisera were applied to plasma samples from 67 children who met both DSM-III-R and ICD-10 diagnostic criteria for infantile autism, 22 girls with Rett's syndrome, and 67 normal children matched in age and sex with the children with autism.
Median N-terminally directed beta-endorphin immunoreactivity appeared to be slightly lower in subjects with autism (7 pg/ml) and clearly higher in the girls with Rett's syndrome (40 pg/ml) than in the comparison subjects (9 pg/ml). Median C-terminally directed beta-endorphin immunoreactivity was higher in the girls with Rett's syndrome (35 pg/ml) and much higher in patients with autism (70 pg/ml) than in comparison subjects (8 pg/ml).
These findings demonstrate the existence of a wide discrepancy between C- and N-terminally directed beta-endorphin immunoreactivity among children with autism. Despite the fact that the nature of the antigen recognized in the plasma of autistic children by the C-terminally directed anti-beta-endorphin serum remains to be characterized, the difference between C- and N-terminally directed beta-endorphin immunoreactivity might suggest an abnormal processing of the pro-opiomelanocortin gene in infantile autism.
通过测量自闭症患者与患有雷特综合征的患者及正常对照受试者的血浆β-内啡肽，作者研究了婴儿自闭症中是否存在过量的阿片样物质活性。
使用C端和N端定向抗血清对β-内啡肽进行放射免疫分析，应用于67名符合DSM-III-R和ICD-10婴儿自闭症诊断标准的儿童、22名患有雷特综合征的女孩以及67名年龄和性别与自闭症儿童相匹配的正常儿童的血浆样本。
自闭症受试者中N端定向β-内啡肽免疫反应性中位数似乎略低于对照受试者（7 pg/ml），而患有雷特综合征的女孩中则明显更高（40 pg/ml）。C端定向β-内啡肽免疫反应性中位数在患有雷特综合征的女孩中更高（35 pg/ml），在自闭症患者中则更高得多（70 pg/ml），高于对照受试者（8 pg/ml）。
这些发现表明自闭症儿童中C端和N端定向β-内啡肽免疫反应性之间存在很大差异。尽管C端定向抗β-内啡肽血清在自闭症儿童血浆中识别的抗原性质仍有待确定，但C端和N端定向β-内啡肽免疫反应性之间的差异可能表明婴儿自闭症中阿片促黑皮质素原基因的加工异常。
