| Title |
Locus ceruleus neurons in people with autism contain no histochemically-detectable mercury
|
|---|---|
| Published in |
BioMetals, November 2015
|
| DOI | 10.1007/s10534-015-9898-9 |
| Pubmed ID | |
| Authors |
Roger Pamphlett, Stephen Kum Jew |
| Abstract |
Exposure to environmental mercury has been proposed to play a part in autism. Mercury is selectively taken up by the human locus ceruleus, a region of the brain that has been implicated in autism. We therefore looked for the presence of mercury in the locus ceruleus of people who had autism, using the histochemical technique of autometallography which can detect nanogram amounts of mercury in tissues. In addition, we sought evidence of damage to locus ceruleus neurons in autism by immunostaining for hyperphosphorylated tau. No mercury was found in any neurons of the locus ceruleus of 6 individuals with autism (5 male, 1 female, age range 16-48 years). Mercury was present in locus ceruleus neurons in 7 of 11 (64 %) age-matched control individuals who did not have autism, which is significantly more than in individuals with autism. No increase in numbers of locus ceruleus neurons containing hyperphosphorylated tau was detected in people with autism. In conclusion, most people with autism have not been exposed early in life to quantities of mercury large enough to be found later in adult locus ceruleus neurons. Human locus ceruleus neurons are sensitive indicators of mercury exposure, and mercury appears to remain in these neurons indefinitely, so these findings do not support the hypothesis that mercury neurotoxicity plays a role in autism. |
X Demographics
The data shown below were collected from the profiles of 2 X users who shared this research output. Click here to find out more about how the information was compiled.
Geographical breakdown
| Country | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Spain | 1 | 50% |
| Canada | 1 | 50% |
Demographic breakdown
| Type | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Members of the public | 1 | 50% |
| Scientists | 1 | 50% |
Mendeley readers
The data shown below were compiled from readership statistics for 32 Mendeley readers of this research output. Click here to see the associated Mendeley record.
Geographical breakdown
| Country | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Unknown | 32 | 100% |
Demographic breakdown
| Readers by professional status | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Student > Master | 9 | 28% |
| Researcher | 5 | 16% |
| Student > Bachelor | 3 | 9% |
| Other | 2 | 6% |
| Student > Ph. D. Student | 2 | 6% |
| Other | 3 | 9% |
| Unknown | 8 | 25% |
| Readers by discipline | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Psychology | 5 | 16% |
| Neuroscience | 4 | 13% |
| Nursing and Health Professions | 2 | 6% |
| Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology | 2 | 6% |
| Medicine and Dentistry | 2 | 6% |
| Other | 4 | 13% |
| Unknown | 13 | 41% |
Attention Score in Context
This research output has an Altmetric Attention Score of 2. This is our high-level measure of the quality and quantity of online attention that it has received. This Attention Score, as well as the ranking and number of research outputs shown below, was calculated when the research output was last mentioned on 11 May 2017.
All research outputs
#16,919,456
of 25,654,806 outputs
Outputs from BioMetals
#412
of 709 outputs
Outputs of similar age
#229,290
of 396,041 outputs
Outputs of similar age from BioMetals
#1
of 9 outputs
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