Novel Immunotherapeutic Approach to Autism Spectrum Disorders: tests, treatments and clinical outcomes
At the Biomedical Centre for Autism Research and Treatment (Italy), several therapeutic strategies targeting the immune system and neuroinflammation have been implemented over the course of the last 10 years. In the recent past, we focused our attention on the clinical role of modulators of the immune system as potential candidates for ASD treatment based on the seminal work by Dr. Jeff Bradstreet on the Gc protein-derived Macrophage Activating Factor (GcMAF). Since it was recently hypothesized that the results observed by Bradstreet et al. (2012) may be due to a glycosaminoglycan, chondroitin sulfate (Ruggiero et al., 2016), we decided to treat ASD subjects with a chondroitin sulfate-containing supplement that has shown remarkable results in the field of immunotherapy. The combination of chondroitin sulfate-containing supplement, ultrasound therapy as developed in The Ruggiero-Klinghardt (RK) and other anti-inflammatory treatments will be shown as efficient strategy of intervention.
Nicola Antonucci, MD
After completing his studies in medicine in July 2000, Dr. Antonucci obtained a specialization in Psychiatry at the University of Bari – Italy in 2005. His own daughter was diagnosed with an Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) in 2006. It was then that he started training in biomedical treatment for ASD utilizing the support and mentoring from the Autism Research Institute in San Diego (CA).
He is currently director of the Biomedical Centre for Autism Research and Treatment in Italy and holds multiple clinics throughout various locations in and around Europe. In 2010, he collaborated with Dr. Dario Siniscalco (Second University of Naples) and together they founded a research group to study molecular and cellular changes in ASD. This group is currently conducting several research trials on advance treatments for ASD, in collaboration with American and European researchers. They have published several papers in international peer-reviewed journals on this subject.
