Cochrane: No MMR Vaccine Autism Link

Public release date: 19-Oct-2005
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releas...-clp101705.php

Contact: Amy Molnar

John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Cochrane Library publishes the most thorough survey of MMR vaccination data
There was no credible evidence behind claims of harm from the MMR
vaccination. This is the conclusion drawn by the Cochrane Review
Authors, an international team of researchers, after carefully drawing
together all of the evidence found in 31 high quality studies from
around the world. They also highlight that the policy of encouraging
mass use of MMR has eliminated the scourge of measles, mumps and rubella
from many countries.
"In particular we conclude that all the major unintended events, such as
triggering Crohn's disease or autism, were suspected on the basis of
unreliable evidence," says lead author Dr Vittorio Demicheli who works
at Servizo Sovrazonale di Epidemiologia, Alessandria, Italy.

These findings will be published on 19 October, 2005 in The Cochrane
Library¹.

"Public health decisions need to be based on sound evidence. If this
principle had been applied in the case of the MMR dispute, then we would
have avoided all the fuss," says Demicheli.

The success of the large-scale vaccination programmes in developed
countries has tended to induce a sense of complacency, but measles,
mumps and rubella are serious diseases that can cause permanent physical
damage or even kill. Indeed, in developing countries where vaccination
is less prevalent, the mortality rate from these diseases is high

The MMR vaccine was introduced in the USA in the 1970s and is now in use
in over 90 countries around the world. A single research paper published
in 1998 based on 12 children cast doubt on the safety of the vaccine by
implying that it might cause development problems like Crohn's disease
and autism². The paper has since been retracted by most of the original
authors, but before that it triggered a worldwide scare, which in turn
resulted in reduced uptake of the vaccine³.

Aware of the controversy surrounding the use of MMR, members of The
Cochrane Collaboration set out to review the evidence for effectiveness
of the vaccine and also to review evidence of adverse events. In a
process of 'systematic reviewing' researchers searched international
databases and found 139 articles about MMR use. Because many of them
referred to studies that had been conducted in a way that could not rule
out bias or error, the researchers discarded all but 31 of them. Using
rigorously established methods the researchers then synthesised the
findings from these pieces of higher-quality research to create the most
authoritative assessment yet available.

The systematic review's key findings are that:

1. There is no credible link between the MMR vaccine and any long-term
disability, including Crohn's disease and autism.

2. MMR is an important vaccine that has prevented diseases that still
carry a heavy burden of death and complications where the vaccine is not
used consistently.

3. The lack of confidence in MMR has caused great damage to public health.

4. People arguing for or against the use of any therapy need to make
sure that they base their conclusions on carefully collected evidence,
not just on biased opinion, speculation or suspicion.

"This review exemplifies what Cochrane reviews are all about – for the
first time all the evidence that is available on the efficacy and safety
of MMR vaccine has been gathered together into one report," says Mark
Davies, co-chair of the Cochrane Collaboration Steering Group.


###
Notes for editors

1. Review Paper: Demicheli et al: Vaccines for measles, mumps and
rubella in children. The Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews 2005,
Issue 4.

2. The original controversial paper was A J Wakefield et al,
Ileal-lymphoid-nodular hyperplasia, non-specific colitis, and pervasive
developmental disorder in children. Lancet 1998; 351: 637-41.

3. Murch et al: Retraction of an interpretation, The Lancet, 2004 March 6

4. The Cochrane Library contains high quality health care information,
including Systematic Reviews from The Cochrane Collaboration. These
reviews bring together research on the effects of health care and are
considered the gold standard for determining the relative effectiveness
of different interventions. The Cochrane Collaboration
(http://www.cochrane.org) is a UK registered international charity and
the world's leading producer of systematic reviews. It has been
demonstrated that Cochrane Systematic Reviews are of comparable or
better quality and are updated more often than the reviews published in
print journalsª.

5. The Cochrane Library can be accessed at
http://www.thecochranelibrary.com. Guest users may access abstracts for
all reviews in the database, and members of the media may request full
access to the contents of the Library. For further information, see
contact details below.

6. A number of countries have national provisions by which some or all
of their residents are able to access The Cochrane Library for free.
These include:
Australia
Denmark
England
Finland
Ireland
Norway
Scotland
Spain
South Africa
Sweden
Wales
The Canadian Province of Saskatchewan
The US State of Wyoming

7. There are also several programmes, such as the Health InterNetwork
Access to Research Initiative (HINARI) that provide access in developing
countries. To find out whether your country is included in any of these
programmes/provisions, or to learn how to get access if you don't
already have it, please visit: http://www.thecochranelibrary.com.

Study links autism to toxic metals

By SANDY KLEFFMAN

Contra Costa Times


A new study sheds light on the mystery of autism and may point the way
to a promising treatment.

Some autistic children have a weakened ability to protect themselves
from toxic metals in their bodies, a biochemist at the University of
Arkansas for Medical Sciences has concluded.

Such children have a severe deficiency of glutathione, the body's most
important tool for detoxifying and excreting heavy metals such as
mercury and lead, Dr. Jill James reports in a peer-reviewed study
published this month in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

James' findings provide new ammunition for those who suspect that
mercury-containing vaccines play a role in triggering autism.

The study, which involved 20 autistic children, also suggests a
possible intervention for the disorder, which has no known cause or
cure.

In an attempt to correct their metabolic imbalance, James gave eight
of the participants supplements of folinic acid, a form of folic acid,
and vitamin B-12. Their glutathione measurements then improved.

The study did not attempt to quantify changes in autistic behavior.

But Dr. Elizabeth Mumper, an associate professor of clinical
pediatrics at the University of Virginia Medical School, said she has
given similar supplements to many autistic children and noticed a
marked improvement in some.

''I don't mean to imply that I can cure autism but for a subset, the
results can be dramatic,'' Mumper said.

Mumper and James said they hope other researchers will attempt to
replicate their findings in larger numbers of children.

Most researchers, including James, say there is a strong genetic
component to autism.

Ilena Rose wrote:
Study links autism to toxic metals

By SANDY KLEFFMAN

Contra Costa Times


A new study sheds light on the mystery of autism and may point the way
to a promising treatment.

Some autistic children have a weakened ability to protect themselves
from toxic metals in their bodies, a biochemist at the University of
Arkansas for Medical Sciences has concluded.

Such children have a severe deficiency of glutathione, the body's most
important tool for detoxifying and excreting heavy metals such as
mercury and lead, Dr. Jill James reports in a peer-reviewed study
published this month in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

James' findings provide new ammunition for those who suspect that
mercury-containing vaccines play a role in triggering autism.

The study, which involved 20 autistic children, also suggests a
possible intervention for the disorder, which has no known cause or
cure.

In an attempt to correct their metabolic imbalance, James gave eight
of the participants supplements of folinic acid, a form of folic acid,
and vitamin B-12. Their glutathione measurements then improved.

The study did not attempt to quantify changes in autistic behavior.

But Dr. Elizabeth Mumper, an associate professor of clinical
pediatrics at the University of Virginia Medical School, said she has
given similar supplements to many autistic children and noticed a
marked improvement in some.

''I don't mean to imply that I can cure autism but for a subset, the
results can be dramatic,'' Mumper said.

Mumper and James said they hope other researchers will attempt to
replicate their findings in larger numbers of children.

Note this:

Most researchers, including James, say there is a strong genetic
component to autism.

James' study has been cited only by the Geiers, paid witnesses in
thimerosal trials, and a professor from Northeastern University in a
non-peer reviewed paper.

The overwhelming weight of evidence says that thimerosal does not cause
autism.

"Mark Probert" wrote in message
...
Ilena Rose wrote:
Study links autism to toxic metals

By SANDY KLEFFMAN

Contra Costa Times


A new study sheds light on the mystery of autism and may point the way
to a promising treatment.

Some autistic children have a weakened ability to protect themselves
from toxic metals in their bodies, a biochemist at the University of
Arkansas for Medical Sciences has concluded.

Such children have a severe deficiency of glutathione, the body's most
important tool for detoxifying and excreting heavy metals such as
mercury and lead, Dr. Jill James reports in a peer-reviewed study
published this month in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

James' findings provide new ammunition for those who suspect that
mercury-containing vaccines play a role in triggering autism.

The study, which involved 20 autistic children, also suggests a
possible intervention for the disorder, which has no known cause or
cure.

In an attempt to correct their metabolic imbalance, James gave eight
of the participants supplements of folinic acid, a form of folic acid,
and vitamin B-12. Their glutathione measurements then improved.

The study did not attempt to quantify changes in autistic behavior.

But Dr. Elizabeth Mumper, an associate professor of clinical
pediatrics at the University of Virginia Medical School, said she has
given similar supplements to many autistic children and noticed a
marked improvement in some.

''I don't mean to imply that I can cure autism but for a subset, the
results can be dramatic,'' Mumper said.

Mumper and James said they hope other researchers will attempt to
replicate their findings in larger numbers of children.

Note this:

Most researchers, including James, say there is a strong genetic
component to autism.

James' study has been cited only by the Geiers, paid witnesses in
thimerosal trials, and a professor from Northeastern University in a
non-peer reviewed paper.

The overwhelming weight of evidence says that thimerosal does not cause
autism.

Note this:

http://www.flu.org.cn/news/2004986362.htm
Thimerosal,New study reopens debate on vaccinations
Published: Sep ,8,2004 16:21 PM
By ###
Special to The Wall Street Journal & Medicalnewstoday



By Tara Parker-Pope
The Wall Street Journal

Just a few months after the nation's top medical adviser rejected a link
between vaccines and autism, a mouse study has reignited the debate and
raised new fears among parents considering vaccinations and flu shots for
their kids.


For years, a cadre of parents and physicians have contended that thimerosal,
an ethyl-mercury compound that has been one of the most widely used vaccine
preservatives, is partly responsible for an apparent rise in autism in
recent decades. But broad population studies haven't supported the claim. In
May, a major report from the Institute of Medicine's Immunization Safety
Review Committee rejected a link between autism and vaccines.



But today, a congressional committee will review a June study from Columbia
University, which found that a preservative used in vaccines can cause
autism-like symptoms in a specific strain of mice. The research raises
questions about whether some people might be genetically vulnerable to the
effects of thimerosal.



The study also raises questions about a new push by the Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention to add flu shots to the immunization schedule for
school-age kids. The vast majority of flu shots given still contain the
preservative.



In the study, researchers administered thimerosal to four strains of young
mice. Three of the mice strains were unaffected by thimerosal, but the
fourth developed problems consistent with autism such as delayed growth,
social withdrawal and brain abnormalities. The mice were known to have a
genetic susceptibility to mercury.



Thimerosal, found in childhood vaccines, can increase the risk of
autism-like damage in mice



A new study indicates that postnatal exposure to thimerosal, a mercury
preservative commonly used in a number of childhood vaccines, can lead to
the development of autism-like damage in autoimmune disease susceptible
mice. This animal model, the first to show that the administration of
low-dose ethylmercury can lead to behavioral and neurological changes in the
developing brain, reinforces previous studies showing that a genetic
predisposition affects risk in combination with certain environmental
triggers. The study was conducted by researchers at the Jerome L. and Dawn
Greene

Infectious Disease Laboratory at the Mailman School of Public Health,
Columbia University. Over the past 20 years, there has been a striking
increase--at least ten-fold since 1985--in the number of children diagnosed
with autism spectrum disorders. Genetic factors alone cannot account for
this rise in prevalence. Researchers at the Mailman School, led by Dr. Mady
Hornig, created an animal model to explore the relationship between
thimerosal (ethylmercury) and autism, hypothesizing that the combination of
genetic susceptibility and environmental exposure to mercury in childhood
vaccines may cause neurotoxicity.

Cumulative mercury burden through other sources, including in utero
exposures to mercury in fish or vaccines, may also lead to damage in
susceptible hosts. Timing and quantity of thimerosal dosing for the mouse
model were developed using the U.S. immunization schedule for children, with
doses calculated for mice based on 10th percentile weight of U.S. boys at
age two, four, six, and twelve months.

The researchers found the subset of autoimmune disease susceptible mice with
thimerosal exposure to express many important aspects of the behavioral and
neuropathologic features of autism spectrum disorders, including:

Abnormal response to novel environments;

Behavioral impoverishment (limited range of behaviors and decreased
exploration of environment); Significant abnormalities in brain
architecture, affecting areas subserving emotion and cognition; Increased
brain size.

These findings have relevance for identification of autism cases relating to
environmental factors; design of treatment strategies; and development of
rational immunization programs. The use of thimerosal in vaccines has been
reduced over the past few years, although it is still present in some
influenza vaccines. Identifying the connection between genetic
susceptibility and an environmental trigger for autism--in this case
thimerosal exposure--is important because it may promote discovery of
effective interventions for and limit exposure in a specific population,
stated the lead author Dr. Mady Hornig. Because the developing brain can be
exposed to toxins that are long gone by the time symptoms appear, clues
gathered in these animal models can then be evaluated through prospective
human birth cohorts--providing a powerful to tool to dissect the interaction
between genes and the environment over time.

Citation source: Molecular Psychiatry 2004 Volume 9, advance on line
publication doi:10.1038/sj.mp.4001529

For further information on this work, please contact Mady Hornig, MD,
Columbia University, Mailman School of Public Health, Greene Infectious
Disease Laboratory, 722 W 168th St, New York, New York 10032, United States
of America, phone: 212-342-9036; FAX: 949-824-1229; e-mail:


ARTICLE: "Neurotoxic effects of postnatal thimerosal are mouse
strain-dependent"

M Hornig, D Chian, W. I. Lipkin

Greene Infectious Disease Laboratory, Mailman School of Public Health,
Columbia University, 722 W 168th St, New York, New York 10032

The new study is over a year old. We have noted it.

Jeff

"Jeff" wrote in message
link.net...
The new study is over a year old. We have noted it.

Jeff

Over a year old and still note worthy.

It needs to be repeated when people lke Mark Probert make repeated stupid
statements.

That's what you snipped, Jeff.

The overwhelming weight of evidence says that thimerosal does not cause
autism

"LadyLollipop" wrote in message
newsqB5f.448673$_o.331937@attbi_s71...

"Mark Probert" wrote in message
...
Ilena Rose wrote:
Study links autism to toxic metals

By SANDY KLEFFMAN

Contra Costa Times

[article deleted]


Note this:

Most researchers, including James, say there is a strong genetic
component to autism.

James' study has been cited only by the Geiers, paid witnesses in
thimerosal trials, and a professor from Northeastern University in a
non-peer reviewed paper.

The overwhelming weight of evidence says that thimerosal does not cause
autism.

Note this:

http://www.flu.org.cn/news/2004986362.htm
Thimerosal,New study reopens debate on vaccinations
Published: Sep ,8,2004 16:21 PM
By ###
Special to The Wall Street Journal & Medicalnewstoday



By Tara Parker-Pope
The Wall Street Journal


[article deleted]


Note this:

JAMA. 2003 Oct 1;290(13):1763-6.

Comment in:
J Fam Pract. 2004 Feb;53(2):94-6.
JAMA. 2004 Jan 14;291(2):180; author reply 180-1.
JAMA. 2004 Jan 14;291(2):180; author reply 180-1.

"Association between thimerosal-containing vaccine and autism."

Hviid A, Stellfeld M, Wohlfahrt J, Melbye M.

Danish Epidemiology Science Centre, Department of Epidemiology Research,
Statens
Serum Institut, Copenhagen, Denmark.

CONTEXT: Mercuric compounds are nephrotoxic and neurotoxic at high doses.
Thimerosal, a preservative used widely in vaccine formulations, contains
ethylmercury. Thus it has been suggested that childhood vaccination with
thimerosal-containing vaccine could be causally related to
neurodevelopmental
disorders such as autism. OBJECTIVE: To determine whether vaccination with a
thimerosal-containing vaccine is associated with development of autism.
DESIGN,
SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: Population-based cohort study of all children
born in
Denmark from January 1, 1990, until December 31, 1996 (N = 467 450)
comparing
children vaccinated with a thimerosal-containing vaccine with children
vaccinated with a thimerosal-free formulation of the same vaccine. MAIN
OUTCOME
MEASURES: Rate ratio (RR) for autism and other autistic-spectrum disorders,
including trend with dose of ethylmercury. RESULTS: During 2 986 654
person-years, we identified 440 autism cases and 787 cases of other
autistic-spectrum disorders. The risk of autism and other autistic-spectrum
disorders did not differ significantly between children vaccinated with
thimerosal-containing vaccine and children vaccinated with thimerosal-free
vaccine (RR, 0.85 [95% confidence interval [CI], 0.60-1.20] for autism; RR,
1.12
[95% CI, 0.88-1.43] for other autistic-spectrum disorders). Furthermore, we
found no evidence of a dose-response association (increase in RR per 25
microg
of ethylmercury, 0.98 [95% CI, 0.90-1.06] for autism and 1.03 [95% CI,
0.98-1.09] for other autistic-spectrum disorders). CONCLUSION: The results
do
not support a causal relationship between childhood vaccination with
thimerosal-containing vaccines and development of autistic-spectrum
disorders.

LadyLollipop wrote:
"Jeff" wrote in message
link.net...
The new study is over a year old. We have noted it.

Jeff

Over a year old and still note worthy.

Over a year old amd still irrelevant, since no epidemiological study
has shown a link between vaccinations and autism, despite the many
carried out.

Evidently "behavioural impoverishment" in mice does not correspond to
autism in humans.

It is telling that there is a plethora of studies demonstrating that
the link between thimerosal and autism doesn't exist, while La Lollipop
has only this one that she's trotted out countless times, and is a
study of "autoimmune disease susceptible" mice, that comes close to
suggesting that it does.

Cathy


It needs to be repeated when people lke Mark Probert make repeated stupid
statements.

That's what you snipped, Jeff.

The overwhelming weight of evidence says that thimerosal does not cause
autism

"Darwin" wrote in message
...

"LadyLollipop" wrote in message
newsqB5f.448673$_o.331937@attbi_s71...

"Mark Probert" wrote in message
...
Ilena Rose wrote:
Study links autism to toxic metals

By SANDY KLEFFMAN

Contra Costa Times

[article deleted]


Note this:

Most researchers, including James, say there is a strong genetic
component to autism.

James' study has been cited only by the Geiers, paid witnesses in
thimerosal trials, and a professor from Northeastern University in a
non-peer reviewed paper.

The overwhelming weight of evidence says that thimerosal does not cause
autism.

Note this:

http://www.flu.org.cn/news/2004986362.htm
Thimerosal,New study reopens debate on vaccinations
Published: Sep ,8,2004 16:21 PM
By ###
Special to The Wall Street Journal & Medicalnewstoday



By Tara Parker-Pope
The Wall Street Journal


[article deleted]


Note this:

http://www.flu.org.cn/news/2004986362.htm
Thimerosal,


******New study reopens debate on vaccinations********



Published: Sep ,8,2004 16:21 PM
By ###
Special to The Wall Street Journal & Medicalnewstoday



By Tara Parker-Pope
The Wall Street Journal



Note this:

[article deleted]

Restored:

Just a few months after the nation's top medical adviser rejected a link
between vaccines and autism, a mouse study has reignited the debate and
raised new fears among parents considering vaccinations and flu shots for
their kids.


For years, a cadre of parents and physicians have contended that thimerosal,
an ethyl-mercury compound that has been one of the most widely used vaccine
preservatives, is partly responsible for an apparent rise in autism in
recent decades. But broad population studies haven't supported the claim. In
May, a major report from the Institute of Medicine's Immunization Safety
Review Committee rejected a link between autism and vaccines.



But today, a congressional committee will review a June study from Columbia
University, which found that a preservative used in vaccines can cause
autism-like symptoms in a specific strain of mice. The research raises
questions about whether some people might be genetically vulnerable to the
effects of thimerosal.



The study also raises questions about a new push by the Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention to add flu shots to the immunization schedule for
school-age kids. The vast majority of flu shots given still contain the
preservative.



In the study, researchers administered thimerosal to four strains of young
mice. Three of the mice strains were unaffected by thimerosal, but the
fourth developed problems consistent with autism such as delayed growth,
social withdrawal and brain abnormalities. The mice were known to have a
genetic susceptibility to mercury.



Thimerosal, found in childhood vaccines, can increase the risk of
autism-like damage in mice



A new study indicates that postnatal exposure to thimerosal, a mercury
preservative commonly used in a number of childhood vaccines, can lead to
the development of autism-like damage in autoimmune disease susceptible
mice. This animal model, the first to show that the administration of
low-dose ethylmercury can lead to behavioral and neurological changes in the
developing brain, reinforces previous studies showing that a genetic
predisposition affects risk in combination with certain environmental
triggers. The study was conducted by researchers at the Jerome L. and Dawn
Greene

Infectious Disease Laboratory at the Mailman School of Public Health,
Columbia University. Over the past 20 years, there has been a striking
increase--at least ten-fold since 1985--in the number of children diagnosed
with autism spectrum disorders. Genetic factors alone cannot account for
this rise in prevalence. Researchers at the Mailman School, led by Dr. Mady
Hornig, created an animal model to explore the relationship between
thimerosal (ethylmercury) and autism, hypothesizing that the combination of
genetic susceptibility and environmental exposure to mercury in childhood
vaccines may cause neurotoxicity.

Cumulative mercury burden through other sources, including in utero
exposures to mercury in fish or vaccines, may also lead to damage in
susceptible hosts. Timing and quantity of thimerosal dosing for the mouse
model were developed using the U.S. immunization schedule for children, with
doses calculated for mice based on 10th percentile weight of U.S. boys at
age two, four, six, and twelve months.

The researchers found the subset of autoimmune disease susceptible mice with
thimerosal exposure to express many important aspects of the behavioral and
neuropathologic features of autism spectrum disorders, including:

Abnormal response to novel environments;

Behavioral impoverishment (limited range of behaviors and decreased
exploration of environment); Significant abnormalities in brain
architecture, affecting areas subserving emotion and cognition; Increased
brain size.

These findings have relevance for identification of autism cases relating to
environmental factors; design of treatment strategies; and development of
rational immunization programs. The use of thimerosal in vaccines has been
reduced over the past few years, although it is still present in some
influenza vaccines. Identifying the connection between genetic
susceptibility and an environmental trigger for autism--in this case
thimerosal exposure--is important because it may promote discovery of
effective interventions for and limit exposure in a specific population,
stated the lead author Dr. Mady Hornig. Because the developing brain can be
exposed to toxins that are long gone by the time symptoms appear, clues
gathered in these animal models can then be evaluated through prospective
human birth cohorts--providing a powerful to tool to dissect the interaction
between genes and the environment over time.

Citation source: Molecular Psychiatry 2004 Volume 9, advance on line
publication doi:10.1038/sj.mp.4001529

For further information on this work, please contact Mady Hornig, MD,
Columbia University, Mailman School of Public Health, Greene Infectious
Disease Laboratory, 722 W 168th St, New York, New York 10032, United States
of America, phone: 212-342-9036; FAX: 949-824-1229; e-mail:


ARTICLE: "Neurotoxic effects of postnatal thimerosal are mouse
strain-dependent"

M Hornig, D Chian, W. I. Lipkin

Greene Infectious Disease Laboratory, Mailman School of Public Health,
Columbia University, 722 W 168th St, New York, New York 10032

LadyLollipop wrote:

"Darwin" wrote in message
...

"LadyLollipop" wrote in message
newsqB5f.448673$_o.331937@attbi_s71...

"Mark Probert" wrote in message
...
Ilena Rose wrote:
Study links autism to toxic metals

By SANDY KLEFFMAN

Contra Costa Times

[article deleted]


Note this:

Most researchers, including James, say there is a strong genetic
component to autism.

James' study has been cited only by the Geiers, paid witnesses in
thimerosal trials, and a professor from Northeastern University in a
non-peer reviewed paper.

The overwhelming weight of evidence says that thimerosal does not cause
autism.

Note this:

http://www.flu.org.cn/news/2004986362.htm
Thimerosal,New study reopens debate on vaccinations
Published: Sep ,8,2004 16:21 PM
By ###
Special to The Wall Street Journal & Medicalnewstoday



By Tara Parker-Pope
The Wall Street Journal


[article deleted]


Note this:

http://www.flu.org.cn/news/2004986362.htm
Thimerosal,


******New study reopens debate on vaccinations********

Er, that would be a year-old study.

snip more pointless reposting

No epidemiological study has shown a link between vaccinations and
autism, despite the many carried out.

Evidently "behavioural impoverishment" in mice does not correspond to
autism in humans.


It is telling that there is a plethora of studies demonstrating that
the link between thimerosal and autism doesn't exist, while La Lollipop

has only this one that she's trotted out countless times, and is a
study of "autoimmune disease susceptible" mice, that comes close to
suggesting that it does.


Cathy