What other factors could be related to cholesterol metabolism or sonic hedgehog in autism?
Even if sonic hedgehog is completely activated with cholesterol, it must be secreted and react with receptors for the sonic hedgehog. If such receptors are abnormal or external factors interfere with sonic hedgehog binding to its receptors, the individual may still not respond to functional hedgehog, perhaps resulting in impaired development and/or autistic disorders. In addition, SLOS is only one of the 26 steps in cholesterol synthesis. Mutations in any of these other genes might also be expected to result in developmental and/or autistic spectrum disorders. Any abnormality that alters the lipoproteins that transport cholesterol or accelerate its elimination might also have a profound developmental effect on the growing fetus. Dr. Kelly, an SLOS researcher at John Hopkins University states: “Clinical and basic research on prenatal cholesterol nutrition in SLOS and various animal model systems has delineated a previously unrecognized system for the delivery of low-density lipoprotein
Related Questions
- A lot is being said about autism being caused by environmental factors, how do you see the environment causing developmental disorders?
- What other factors could be related to cholesterol metabolism or sonic hedgehog in autism?
- Are there other studies that support defective cholesterol metabolism in autism?
