A quarterly publication of the Autism Research Institute
Spring, 2017 | Number 2, Volume 31
A new test that identifies damaged proteins may be useful in diagnosing autism spectrum disorders (ASD) early in life, according to researchers in Britain and Italy.
Analyzing blood and urine samples from 38 children with ASD and 31 neurotypical controls, Attia Anwar and colleagues discovered an association between ASD and damage to proteins in blood plasma caused by two processes: oxidation (in which damage is caused by reactive oxygen species), and glycation (in which damage is caused by the linking of sugars with proteins). The most reliable test they developed revealed that children with ASD had higher levels of the oxidation marker dityrosine and advanced glycation endproducts (AGEs).
Senior study author Naila Rabbani comments that the test “is expected to improve the accuracy of ASD diagnosis from 60-70 percent currently achieved by experts in neurological disorders to approximately 90 percent accuracy” and could potentially be offered at hospitals with or without expertise in neurological disorders.
The children in the study were between 5 years and 12 years of age, and the researchers now hope to repeat the study with younger children to see if their test remains accurate.
“Advanced glycation endproducts, dityrosine and arginine transporter dysfunction in autism— a source of biomarkers for clinical diagnosis,” Attia Anwar, Provvidenza Maria Abruzzo, Sabah Pasha, Kashif Rajpoot, Alessandra Bolotta, Alessandro Ghezzo, Marina Marini, Annio Posar, Paola Visconti, Paul J. Thornalley, and Naila Rabbani, Molecular Autism, Vol. 9, No. 3, 2018 (available free online). Address: Naila Rabbani, [email protected].
—and—
“Blood and urine tests developed to indicate autism in children,” news release, University of Warwick, February 18, 2018.
