title: Secretin and autism: a basic morphological study about the distribution of secretin in the nervous system.
abstract: For the first time, the relationship between secretin and autism has been demonstrated by one of us. Intravenous administration of secretin in autistic children caused a fivefold higher pancreaticobiliary fluid secretion than in healthy ones and, at least in some of the patients, better mental functions were reported after the secretin test. Because the precise localization of secretin in the brain is still not completely known, the abovementioned observation led us to map secretin immunoreactivity in the nervous system of several mammalian species. In the present work, the distribution of secretin immunoreactivity in cat and human nervous systems was compared with that of rats using an immunohistochemical approach. Secretin immunoreactivity was observed in the following brain structures of both humans and in colchicine-treated rats: (1) Purkinje cells in the cerebellar cortex; (2) central cerebellar nuclei; (3) pyramidal cells in the motor cortex; and (4) primary sensory neurons. Additionally, secretin immnoreactive cells were observed in the human hippocampus and amygdala and in third-order sensory neurons of the rat auditory system. In cats, secretin was only observed in the spinal ganglia. Our findings support the view that secretin is not only a gastrointestinal peptide but that it is also a neuropeptide. Its presence or the lack of its presence may have a role in the development of behavioral disorders.
authors.affiliation: Department of Human Morphology and Developmental Biology, Faculty of Medicine, Semmelweis University, Tûzoltó u. 58, Budapest, H-1094, Hungary. koves@ana2.sote.hu
authors.forename: Katalin
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Köves
authors.forename: Mária
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kausz
authors.forename: Diana
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Reser
authors.forename: György
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Illyés
authors.forename: József
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Takács
authors.forename: Andrea
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Heinzlmann
authors.forename: Eszter
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Gyenge
authors.forename: Károly
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Horváth
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001321:Autistic Disorder / Q000209:etiology* / Q000378:metabolism*; D001933:Brain Stem / Q000378:metabolism; D002415:Cats; D002531:Cerebellum / Q000378:metabolism; D002540:Cerebral Cortex / Q000378:metabolism; D017950:Ganglia, Sensory / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D008032:Limbic System / Q000378:metabolism; D008297:Male; D009420:Nervous System / Q000378:metabolism*; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D012633:Secretin / Q000378:metabolism*; D013045:Species Specificity; D014018:Tissue Distribution
chemical_list: D012633:Secretin