Flutterby™! : Autism & amino acid deficiencies?

Mutations in BCKD-kinase Lead to a Potentially Treatable Form of Autism with Epilepsy, explained in Nature News & Comment: Amino-acid deficiency underlies rare form of autism.

Gleeson’s team has tried supplementing the diets of the children with this form autism, using muscle-building supplements that contain branched-chain amino acids. The researchers found that the supplements restore the children's blood levels of amino acids to normal. As for their autism symptoms, Gleeson says, the “patients did not get any worse and their parents say they got better, but it’s anecdotal”.