Molecular characterisation of a new variant of inflammatory bowel disease in children with autism

Abstract

A new variant of inflammatory bowel disease, provisionally termed "autistic enterocolitis" has been described in a cohort of children with autistic spectrum disorders. The intestinal pathology includes ileo-colonic lymphonodular hyperplasia and non-specific colitis, which lacks the specific diagnostic features of Crohn's disease or ulcerative colitis. The level of gastrointestinal dysfunction in these children is poorly understood and studies to date have focused primarily on macroscopic and microscopic features of the condition. In addition, the aetiology remains unknown, although an association between measles virus infection or vaccination, onset of gastrointestinal symptoms and developmental regression in these children, has been speculated.