A new study has found a link between eczema and increased autistic traits in children on the autism spectrum.
Australian researchers led by Professor Adam Guastella say autism is “often accompanied by skin disorders”.
Professor Adam Guastella has found eczema is linked to more severe symptoms in autism
They believe the link could be due to the shared “embryonic origin” of skin and brain tissue.
Hypersensitive immune systems
Neurodevelopment specialist Guastella and colleagues at the University of Sydney looked at 138 autistic children.
Up to 45 of the children taking part had hypersensitive immune systems. This resulted in conditions including asthma, allergies, eczema and hay fever.
The researchers assessed the children’s autism through observation of their communication skills, interaction, play and repetitive behaviours.
Immune disorders linked to autism
Children with immune disorders showed a greater degree of autism overall, including in social skills.
They were up to 2.4 times more likely to experience overall impairments classified as being in the highest level of severity.
And they were 2.7 times more likely to show the most severe social difficulties.
Further, those with eczema had more pronounced symptoms than autistic children with asthma and allergies.
‘Skin-brain connection’
In an email, Guastella said there is a shared origin of a “skin-brain connection” in the ectoderm, which is one of the main layers of cells in the embryo.
He added that “skin development at birth could provide important clues to inform on brain development and that is what we are testing now”.
In a statement, biomedical charity Thinking Autism said the study added to the “large amount of research showing a potential link between immune dysregulation and some autism”.
The Australian researchers published their study in Translational Psychiatry.
And in a more recent study in Molecular Psychiatry, Guastella suggests that “skin barrier integrity might represent an early indicator” of unusual brain development.
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Published: 15 November 2022
