Cerebral Folate Deficiency, Folinic Acid, and Leucovorin

Surprisingly Common Findings of Cerebral Folate Autoimmunity in Autism© « Dr Jeff Bradstreet, MD, MD(H), FAAFP

We have been evaluating autoimmunity to cerebral folate receptors and related transport mechanisms in children with autism.

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Unlike the traditional description of cerebral folate deficiency, these cases of autoimmunity to the folate receptors present with significant variability ranging from profoundly effected to only mild changes.

Treatment consists of using 1-2mg/Kg/day of body weight of folinic acid – usually as the prescription medicine: Leucovorin^®. However, this does not always result in improvement by itself, and we speculate that some form of immune treatment may needed as well. In support of this concept, researchers have found a milk-free diet downregulates the autoimmunity (makes it less of a problem). This may partially explain why dairy-free diets are helpful for some children with ASD.

More @ http://drbradstreet.org/2011/02/22/surprisingly-common-findings-of-cerebral-folate-autoimmunity-in-autism/