PLT Test Blog

Today’s post is likely to be of interest to those dealing with allergy and mast cell activation, but it may have broader implications for those with excess brain mTOR activity. In the jargon, we are told that: “ enhanced mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) signaling in the brain has been implicated in the pathogenesis of autism spectrum disorder”. I have discussed mTOR and mTOR inhibitors previously on this blog. Amino acids, not just for body builders? mTOR plays a key role in aging and many human diseases ranging from cancer, diabetes and obesity to autism and Alzheimer’s. The greatest interest in mTOR seems to be in cancer care.   Many cancer genes and pathways are also involved in autism, so we can benefit from the cancer research.   Another autism gene that is also a cancer gene is PTEN.   PTEN is a tumor suppressor and in the most common male cancer, prostate cancer (PCa), what happens is that PTEN gets turned off and so the cancer continues to grow.   If y...

Today’s post looks deeper into the biology of those people who respond to the drug bumetanide, which means a large sub-group of those with autism, likely those with Down Syndrome and likely some with schizophrenia. It is a rather narrow area of science, but other than bumetanide treatment, there appears to be no research interest in further translating science into therapy.     So it looks like this blog is the only place to develop such ideas. I did not expect this post would lead to a practical intervention, but perhaps it does. As you will discover, the goal would be to restore a hormone called estradiol to its natural higher level, perhaps by increasing an enzyme called aromatase, which appears to be commonly downregulated in autism.   This should increase expression of neuroligin 2, which should increase expression of the ion transporter KCC2; this will lower intracellular chloride and boost cognition. It seems that those people using Atorvastatin may have alrea...