US researchers correct autism symptoms in mice

0 Comments | AFP, December, 2007

WASHINGTON (AFP) — US researchers say they have successfully corrected key symptoms of a type of autism and mental retardation in mice, a development which could offer sufferers a potential treatment.

The tests carried out on mice aimed to correct "Fragile X syndrome," which affects some 100,000 Americans, said the study from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) to be published on Thursday in Neuron magazine.

Fragile X syndrome is the most common inherited cause of autism and mental retardation, which can be manifested in childhood epilepsy and abnormal growth.

It is caused by the loss of a gene, known as the "fragile X mental retardation protein" (FMRP), which is believed to act as a brake on synthesizing proteins in the brain.

...