Study: Gene interaction raises autism risk in blacks and whites

A combination of two malfunctioning genes increases the risk of autism among African Americans, researchers at Duke University Medical Center have found. This same gene combination also increases the risk of autism in Caucasians, the Duke team reported in a 2005 study.

June 2006 - The researchers believe their new study is the first to examine the genetics of autism in African Americans, despite the disorder's equal prevalence across ethnic groups.

The finding will be critical to developing new treatments for both African Americans and Caucasians, the researchers said.

For example, certain symptoms associated with autism, such as delayed language development and problems handling daily life tasks, are more severe in African American individuals with autism than in Caucasians, Cuccaro said. Such differences make it important to understand the range of underlying genes that contribute to the disorder in various population groups.

"Many diseases, such as sickle cell and cystic fibrosis, have different genetic origins in African Americans versus other racial groups," Cuccaro said. "The most effective drugs are those which target the specific genes that are malfunctioning, so we must define which genes play a role for each ethnic group."

Excerpts from article at: http://sheknows.com/about/look/7304.htm

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