Secretin in Autism
Abstract
Letter to the Editor Secretin in Autism introduce any uninitiated readers to the phenomenon of Secretin in experience with this phenomenon, and to document our impression that the initial promise and claims made for Secretin may be exaggerated. Secretin has taken the autism community (parents and professionals) by storm, since the television airing ("Dateline," NBC) on October 7, 1998, of the story of an autistic child who, after being administered Secretin in a diagnostic test for his chronic diarrhea and vomiting, unexpectedly improved dramatically in his relatedness and language. Word of this, as well as a paper reporting three cases (Horvath et al, 1998), spread like wildfire over the Internet, and there was an intense demand by the parents of autistic children to have Secretin administered to their children. Secretin is a 27-amino-acid polypeptide hormone secreted by cells in duodenal and upper intestinal mucosa. It stimulates secretion of water and bicarbonate by the pancreas, inhibits gastric acid secretion, and potentiates the action of cholecystokinin (CCK) on the pancreas. It also has an inhibitory effect on upper GI tract motility. The usual medical use of Secretin has been in pancreatic function testing and in diagnostic testing for gastrinoma. Since