Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), or more commonly known as autism, is a complicated condition that is characterized by challenges with speech and nonverbal communication, social skills, and repetitive behaviors. There are approximately 1 out of 54 children with autism, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Before, the medical establishment thought that autism and intellectual disability are inseparable. During the 1980s, roughly 69 percent of people with autism were also diagnosed as having mental retardation. In 2014, the number of people with autism and mental retardation - now known as an intellectual disability - has decreased to 30 percent after researchers further studied the subject.
According to the US Department of Education, schools in the US have about 600,000 children with autism and 400,000 who are diagnosed with an intellectual disability as of 2014.
Could cord blood improve communication skills in children with autism?
A study was done at Duke University and the researchers tested if the cord blood could help improve communication skills in children with autism. They tried a single infusion of a unit of the child's own or donor cord blood to children with autism spectrum disorder whose age is from two to seven.
Out of the 180 children as subjects, the subgroup of those with no intellectual disability showed improved language communication. By measuring their eye-tracking and with an increase in the alpha and beta EEG power, a unit used to measure brain function, they were found to be able to sustain attention.
They found no improvement in the social communication function after the infusion to children who had an intellectual disability.
There is approximately 31 percent of children with autism have an IQ of below 70, which can be categorized as having an intellectual disability.
Immune-modulating cells called monocytes are found in cord blood, and these cells help calm down a type of brain inflammation present in children with autism.
More study is needed
The team tried to test whether cord blood infusions could help lessen symptoms in children with autism. According to the researchers, more studies are needed to find out why there is a difference in the effect of cord blood infusion in those with an intellectual disability versus those who do not have them. Future studies could also look into whether the treatment could be altered that would make it beneficial to more children.
They are not sure whether the results failed for children with intellectual disabilities due to the short duration of the study; it could be that the outcome measures are not sensitive enough to detect a change in the population. It could also be that the cord blood is not an effective way to treat children with autism who are also struggling with their intellectual ability.
The team is planning to conduct research that solely targets children with autism who also have an intellectual disability focusing on the measures to help test this specific group of children in the future.
They also plan to design an ongoing study testing about other cell therapies acquiring subjects from older children with autism without intellectual disability by using the lessons learned from this study.
