Polly: Rosemary Waring, MD, of the University of Birmingham, England discovered that many of the autistic children (also ADHD and ADD children) have either a defect in an enzyme called phenol-sulfo-transferase or they have a lack of sulfates which this enzyme requires. Mercury poisoning impairs the kidney’s ability to retain sulfates, and therefore mercury poisoning may be one of the causes of this problem. However, the lack of sulfates could also be due to intestinal inflammation.
Willis: It was Dr. Andrew Wakefield’s work that showed that the lack of sulfates might be due to an inflammation in the gut caused by a chronic measles infection. The gut sheds sulfated glucosaminoglycans (GAGs) during inflammation.  Not only do macrophages eat GAGs and release inorganic sulfate, there is a transporter that the intestines use to absorb sulfate from the diet, called the DRA transporter. Its levels will decrease five-to-seven fold when the gut is inflamed. That would make it extremely difficult to absorb adequate sulfate from food or from oral supplements.
When the GAGs are undersulfated, this produces “Leaky Gut”. Dr. Rosemary Waring and her associates found that the glucosaminoglycans (GAGs) in the gut were very under sulfated, and that this caused a thickening of the basement membrane of the gut.
Sulfates have a negative charge and repel each other, so that charge forms a barrier on the outside of the cell called the matrix, or the glycocalyx. Sulfate is often found in the glycoprotein film also. These films are on all Autism Interventions 47 cells of the body, so if systemic sulfate is low, you most likely have a big problem that is quite general to the whole body. Specifically, the more densely sulfated the GAGs, the more they can resist all kinds of infection. These sulfate molecules govern or influence the ability of the cell to produce its unique set of specialized proteins. It is not something you want to be operating from a deficit, yet that is the condition of most autistic children.
Polly: I read an advertisement for MSM sulfur that suggested it was useful for sulfating the GAGs that line the intestine. Perhaps this is one connection to its apparent usefulness. However, if there is a chance of mercury poisoning, it may be safer to use sulfates, like chondroitan sulfate, to repair the lining. (The chapter on leaky gut in Book 2 has a little more to say about repairing the GAGs that line the intestines.)
Mrs. Generic: My compounding pharmacist knows quite a bit about autism. She compounds a 64% zinc-sulfate gel that is applied topically to the soles of a child’s feet. It is absorbed better than taking it orally and it corrects the zinc deficiency so common in autism. She also makes a glutathione gel which is applied topically to the trunk of the body. This avoids the problem of glutathione being ruined by stomach acid and turned into things like cysteine that may not be wanted. The dosage is between 150 and 300 mg, depending on the age/size. She also makes up a Nystatin suspension, which is free of the sugars and other crap present in the over-the-counter product. The suspension can be between 250,000 and 1,000,000 units/teaspoon. She also makes up a DMSA suspension for chelation purposes.
Polly: You can also purchase the glutathione cream from Kirkman Labs or N.E.E.D.S.