Positive Effect of Fever on Symptoms of Autism
Keywords:
autism spectrum disorder, fever, neuroinflammationAbstract
Autism is no longer considered incurable. Numerous reports have documented cures of autism, especially in young children. In addition, transient improvement in symptoms of ASD has been reported during natural fever in response to infection, suggesting the potential use of fever as a therapy leading to a cure. Fever has proven to be very effective in treatment of human disorders. In the past, fever in response to malaria was successfully used to cure >84% of individuals with the terminal condition dementia paralytica. Malariotherapy has also been used to treat human immunodeficiency virus. Pertinent to autism, recent approaches to alleviate symptoms using heat alone include Sulforaphane (a phytochemical derived from a number of cruciferous vegetables, including broccoli), which has a fever-like effect, and the use of hot water baths to increase body temperature. However, these two means of producing heat do not include the involvement of the immune response, which provides antibodies, inflammatory cytokines, and other means of alleviating the symptoms of autism. It is suggested that trials of various means of producing fever be conducted in populations of individuals with autism. Of note, it is essential that the cause(s) of any induced fever can be cured. Herpes might be considered as a cause of fever that would be effective in alleviating symptoms of autism. A naturally-occurring infection in humans, herpes has been reported to be cured. Overall, the literature to date suggests that purposeful induction of fever is a promising approach in the search for an alleviation and/or cure of ASD.
[N A J Med Sci. 2016;9(4):167-171. DOI: 10.7156/najms.2016.0904167]
Key Words: autism spectrum disorder, fever, neuroinflammation
References
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40. Lell B, Brandts CH, Graninger W, Kremsner PG. The circadian rhythm of body temperature is preserved during malarial fever. Wien Klin Wochenschr. 2000;112(23):1014-1015.
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2. Lord C, Luyster R, Guthrie W, Pickles A. Patterns of developmental trajectories in toddlers with autism spectrum disorder. J Consult Clin Psychol. 2012; 80:477-489.
3. Fein D, Barton M, Eigsti I-M, et al. Optimal outcome in individuals with a history of autism. J Child Psychol Psychiat. 2013;54:195-205.
4. Sutera S, Panday J, Esser EL, et al. Predictors of optimal outcome in toddlers diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorders. J Autism Dev Disord. 2007;37:98-107.
5. Helt M, Kelley E, Kinsbourne M, Pandey J, et al. Can children with autism recover? If so, how? Neuropsychol Rev. 2008;18:339-66.
6. Chawarska K, Klin A, Paul R, Macari S, Volkmar F. A prospective study of toddlers with ASD: short-term diagnostic and cognitive outcomes. J Child Psychol Psychiat. 2009;50:1235-1245.
7. Anderson DK, Liang JW, Lord C. Predicting young adult outcome among more or less cognitively able individuals with autism spectrum disorders. J Child Psychol Psychiat. 2014;55:485-494.
8. Curran LK, Newschaffer CJ, Lee LC, Crawford SO, Johnston MV, Zimmerman AW. Behaviors associated with fever in children with autism spectrum disorders. Pediatrics. 2007;120:e1386-1392.
9. Moorman D. Workshop report: Fever and autism._SFARI. 1 April 2010.
10. Mehler MF, Purpura DP. Autism, fever, epigenetics and the locus coeruleus. Brain Res Rev. 2009;59:388-392.
11. Louveau A, Smirnov I, Keyes TJ, et al. Structural and functional features of central nervous system lymphatics. Nature. 2015;523(7560):337-341.
12. Ghanizadeh A. Could fever and neuroinflammation play a role in the neurobiology of autism? A subject worthy of more research. Int J Hyperthermia. 2011;27;737-738.
13. Young AMH, Chakrabarti B, Roberts D, Lai M-C, Suckling J, Baron-Cohen S. From molecules to neural morphology: understanding neuroinflammation in autism spectrum condition. Mol Autism. 2016;7:1-8.
14. Ferretti CJ, Taylor BP, Noone R, Racine E, Kirsch J, Hollander E. Hyperthermia and the improvement of ASD symptoms. Eur Neuropsychopharmacol. 2016;26:890-891.
15. Walker BAM, Fantone JC. The inflammatory response. In: Immunology and Inflammation. Sigal LH and Ron Y, eds. McGraw-Hill Inc. New York 1994, 359-386.
16. Manouilenko I, Pagani M, Stone-Elander S, et al. Autistic traits, ADHD symptoms, neurological soft signs and regional cerebral blood flow in adults with autism spectrum disorders. Res Autism Spectr Disord. 2013;7:566-578.
17. Gupta SK, Ratnam RB. Cerebral perfusion abnormalities in children with autism and mental retardation: A segmental quantitative SPECT study. Indian Pediat. 46:161-164.
18. Reynell C, Harris JJ. The BOLD signal and neurovascular coupling in autism. Develop Cog Neurosc. 2013;6:72-79.
19. Shinohe A, Hashimoto K, Nakamura K, et al. Increased serum levels of glutamate in adult patients with autism. Prog Neuro-Psychopharmacol Biol Psychiat. 2006;30:1472-1477.
20. Ghanizadeh A. Increased glutamate and homocysteine and decreased glutamine levels in autism: A review and strategies for future studies of amino acids in autism. Dis Markers. 2013;35:281-286.
21. Tebartz van Elst L, Maier S, Fangmeier T, et al. Disturbed cingulate glutamate metabolism in adults with high-functioning autism spectrum disorder: evidence in support of the excitatory/inhibitory imbalance hypothesis. Mol Psychiatry. 2014 19:1314-1325.
22. Abu Shmais GA, Al-Ayadhi LY, Al-Dbass AM, El-Ansary AK. Mechanism of nitrogen metabolism-related parameters and enzyme activities in the pathophysiology of autism. J Neurodevel Disord. 2012;4:1-11.
23. Ziemssen T, Kern S. Psychoneuroimmunology – Cross-talk between the immune and nervous systems. J Neurol. 2007;254(S2):II8-11.
24. Herbert MR. Contributions of the environment and environmentally vulnerable physiology to autism spectrum disorders. Curr Opin Neurol. 2010;23:1-8.
25. Gesundheit B, Rosenzweig JP, Naor D, et al. Immunological and autoimmune considerations of autism spectrum disorders. J Autoimmun. 2013;44:1-7.
26. Shen Y, Ou J, Liu M, et al. Altered plasma levels of chemokines in autism and their association with social behaviors. Psychiatry Res. 2016;244:300-305.
27. Filano AJ, Xu Y, Tustison NJ, et al. Unexpected role of interferon-γ in regulating neuronal connectivity and social behavior. Nature. 2016; 535:425-429.
28 Karamanou M, Liappas I, Antoniou Ch, Androutsos G, Lykouras E. Julius Wagner-Jauregg (1857-1940): Introducing fever therapy in the treatment of neurosyphilis. Psychiatriki. 2013;24:208-212.
29. Julius Wagner-Jauregg. The treatment of dementia paralytica by malaria inoculation. Nobel Lectures. Physiology or Medicine 1922-1941. Elsevier Publishing Co., Amsterdam, 1965.
30. Freitas DRC, Santos JB, Castro CN. Healing with malaria: a brief historical review of malariotherapy for neurosyphilis, mental disorders and other infectious diseases. Rev Soc Bras Med Trop. 2014;47:260-261.
31. Zhong J, Amina S, Liang M, et al. Cyclic ADP-Ribose and heat regulate oxytocin release via CD38 and TRPM2 in the hypothalamus during social or psychological stress in mice. Front Neurosci. 2016;10:304.
32. Singh K, Connors SL, Macklin EA, et al. Sulforaphane treatment of autism spectrum disorder (ASD). PNAS. 2014;111(43):15550-15555.
33. Singh K, Zimmerman AW. Sulforaphane treatment of young men with autism spectrum disorder. CNS Neurol Disord Drug Targets. 2016;15:597-601.
34. Liu H, Talalay P, Fahey JW. Biomarker-guided strategy for treatment of autism spectrum disorder (ASD). CNS Neurol Disord Drug Targets. 2016;15:602-613.
35 Koukkari WL, Sothern RB. Introducing Biological Rhythms. A primer on the temporal organization of life, with implications for health, society, reproduction and the natural environment. New York: Springer, 2006, 655.
36. Simpson HW, Gruen W, Halberg E, et al. Human thermometry in health and disease: the chronobiologist's perspective. In: Chronobiotechnology and Chronobiological Engineering. NATO ASI Series. Scheving LE, Halberg F, Ehret CF, eds. Dordrecht: Martinus Mijhoff Publ, 1987. 141-188.
37. Sothern RB. Chapter 11: Clinical Medicine. In: Koukkari WL, Sothern RB, eds. Introducing Biological Rhythms. New York: Springer, 2006, 426-525.
38. Smolensky MH, Portaluppi F, Manfredini R, et al. Diurnal and twenty-four hour patterning of human diseases: acute and chronic common and uncommon medical conditions. Sleep Med Rev. 2015;21:12-22.
39. Hejl Z. Daily, lunar, yearly and menstrual cycle and bacterial or viral infections in man. J Interdiscipl Cycle Res. 1977;8:250e8.
40. Lell B, Brandts CH, Graninger W, Kremsner PG. The circadian rhythm of body temperature is preserved during malarial fever. Wien Klin Wochenschr. 2000;112(23):1014-1015.
41. Maher J, Browne P, Daly L, McCann SR, Daily PA. A circadian distribution to febrile episodes in neutropenic patients. Support Care Cancer. 1993;(1:98-100.
42. Olwin JH, Ratajczak HV, House RV. Successful treatment of herpetic infections by autohemotherapy. J Altern Complem Med. 1997;2:155-158.
Published
2016-10-31
How to Cite
Ratajczak, PhD, H. V., & Sothern, PhD, R. B. (2016). Positive Effect of Fever on Symptoms of Autism. North American Journal of Medicine and Science, 9(4). Retrieved from https://najms.com/index.php/najms/article/view/320
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Section
Review
