Researchers prove cerebral palsy can be genetic

NEW LINK FOUND: Professor Alastair MacLennan and patient Matthew Reinertsen, who has cerebral palsy.

Australian researchers have proved cerebral palsy can be genetic, a finding with significant implications for the diagnosis, management and treatment of the debilitating condition which affects movement and posture.

Long thought to be caused by a lack of oxygen during pregnancy or at birth, cerebral palsy is caused by genetic mutations in at least 14 per cent of case, Adelaide University researchers have found.

However head of the cerebral palsy research group at Adelaide University's Robinson Research Institute Alastair MacLennan said it could be just the start, with up to half of cases potentially caused by genetic mutations.

The team, including researchers from America and the Netherlands, mapped the DNA of hundreds of Australian cerebral palsy families, looking for common genetic features.

Almost 100 gene mutations were found and some were transplanted into zebrafish, which Professor MacLennan said promptly lost control of their tail.

"When we put the good gene back in, we recovered the movement of the fish," Professor MacLennan said.

However he stressed that for humans, the implications of the study remained limited to cerebral palsy prevention - rather than curing the condition which occurs in one in 400 births.

The findings suggest that rather than cerebral palsy being caused by lack of oxygen at birth, babies carrying the genetic mutation are more susceptible to getting the brain development disorder.

Professor MacLennan said this disproved a "common lay and courtroom myth" which had affected caesarean rates, as medical staff and parents tried to minimise risks at birth.

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Researchers prove cerebral palsy can be genetic