Can Swine Flu Alter Genes and Cause Autism, Alzheimer's and Schizophrenia?

A genetic epidemiological researcher who has worked in statistical genetics at the National Human Genome Research Institute/NIH, has posted an article Swine Flu Can Change Genes of Unborn at Blisstree.com suggesting that swine flu in pregnant women may change the genes of unborn children resulting in damage to the hippocampus. Grace Ibay points out that damage to the hippocampus is associated with a number of mental disorders including autism, Alzheimer’s and schizophrenia.

Ms Ibay refers to a study of pregnant mice injected with the swine flu (H1N1) virus published in the medical journal European Neuropsychopharmacology in which the newborn offspring had reduced hippocampus by 15% and 12 other altered genes. The journal article is Prenatal viral infection of mice at E16 causes changes in gene expression in hippocampi of the offspring in European Neuropsychopharmacology Volume 19, Issue 9, Pages 648-653 (September 2009).

The article abstract comments generally that the hippocampus governs memory formation and emotional regulation, that there is widespread evidence of hippocampal dysfunction in psychiatric disorders, including schizophrenia and autism and that there is abundant evidence that prenatal viral infection may play a role in development of schizophrenia and autism.

The abstract reports that the authors of the study, a research team led by S. Hossein Fatemi, of the University of Minnesota School of Medicine, observed:

"significant changes in gene expression in the offspring .... including a number of candidate genes for autism and schizophrenia ... qRT-PCR verified the direction and magnitude of change for 5 of the genes from the microarray data set and revealed mRNA changes for additional genes associated with schizophrenia and autism."

Ms Ibay, who is reported to be the mother of young children in addition to being a genetic epidemiological researcher, refers to this study as confirmation of the public health recommendation that pregnant women be vaccinated against the H1N1 (swine flu) virus. She makes no mention of any possible damage to the genetic makeup of unborn children that might result from injecting their mothers with the H1N1(swine flu) vaccine.

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Is "New" Autism Theory Much Ado About Nothing?

I have read the New York Times article In a Novel Theory of Mental Disorders, Parents’ Genes Are in Competition about the new theory articulated by Dr Crespi and Dr Badcock but I have to confess that I do not see what all the fuss is about. From what this humble layman can understood the "theory" is really little more than speculation, a simple reorganization of how we categorize or arrange various discrete disorders. It does not appear to be based on any novel research, evidence or observations.

I am not sure if it is properly called a theory but the NYT summarizes it as follows:

Their idea is, in broad outline, straightforward. Dr. Crespi and Dr. Badcock propose that an evolutionary tug of war between genes from the father’s sperm and the mother’s egg can, in effect, tip brain development in one of two ways. A strong bias toward the father pushes a developing brain along the autistic spectrum, toward a fascination with objects, patterns, mechanical systems, at the expense of social development. A bias toward the mother moves the growing brain along what the researchers call the psychotic spectrum, toward hypersensitivity to mood, their own and others’. This, according to the theory, increases a child’s risk of developing schizophrenia later on, as well as mood problems like bipolar disorder and depression.

In short: autism and schizophrenia represent opposite ends of a spectrum that includes most, if not all, psychiatric and developmental brain disorders. The theory has no use for psychiatry’s many separate categories for disorders, and it would give genetic findings an entirely new dimension.

What is meant by the NYT 's expressions "tug of war" and "bias"? How do these events occur? And why does the theory have no use for psychiatry's many separate categories for disorders? If persons now described as having schizophrenia, bi-polar disorder or autism consistently exhibit different behaviors and different ways of thinking or understanding the world why should the categories be disregarded?

One of the authors of the theory, Dr. Crespi, states that the implications of their theory are huge.

This humble father of a 12 year old boy with Autistic Disorder, and profound developmental delays, is not so sure.

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