Re: Interesting Comment by Dr. Swedo

[Guest guest]

I just thought I'd post this snip from and article I found, because I had

heard about the NIMH trials Dr. Pardo and I guess Dr. Swedo are doing with

minocycline but hadn't heard that they were using it as an immune modulator.

Caroline

Minocycline study

Excerpt from longer article at...

http://www.psychiatrictimes.com/showArticle.jhtml;jsessionid=QM01NDHQ5Z1KCQS

NDLQSKH0CJUNN2JVN?articleID=197002523 & pgno=2

In another small-scale intramural study, Treatment of Childhood Regressive

Autism With Minocycline: An Anti-Inflammatory Agent Active Within the CNS,

NIMH researchers are examining the use of the antibiotic minocycline

(Dynacin, Minocin, Myrac) in children aged 3 to 12 years with regressive

autism.

³We are using minocycline, a tetracycline derivative, not for its

effectiveness as an antibiotic but rather for its ability to modulate the

immune system,² Swedo said. ³It has fairly specific effects on NF-kappa B

and therefore inhibits the initiation of the cascade that leads to

inflammation. Published data from the s Hopkins group [2,3] demonstrate

that brains of individuals with autism have evidence of chronic

neuroinflammation. We hope that by stopping that process, the children will

be able to recover some of their skills. We are conducting an open-label

trial in 10 children and are accepting referrals. If the results are

encouraging, we will do a placebo-controlled trial in a larger cohort of

subjects.²