Vasopressin levels in CSF may be biomarker for ASD

Low brain levels of the hormone vasopressin may be a promising biomarker for autism spectrum disorders (ASD), according to new research. 

Özge Öztan and colleagues measured oxytocin and vasopressin levels in the cerebrospinal fluid of 36 children with ASD and 36 controls. (Samples were drawn for medical reasons not related to autism.) The researchers found that while the two groups had similar oxytocin levels, the average level of vasopressin in the children with ASD was 66% lower than in the controls. The researchers found that, based on vasopressin levels alone, they could correctly identify all but eight children with ASD and nine controls. In addition, they found that in boys, but not girls, with ASD, lower vasopressin levels correlated with more severe social difficulties. 

The researchers say that in addition to being a promising biomarker for ASD, low brain vasopressin levels may be a target for therapy.

Citations

“Cerebrospinal fluid vasopressin and symptom severity in children with autism,” Özge Öztan, Joseph P. Garner, Sonia Partap, Elliott H. Sherr, Antonio Y. Hardan, Cristan Farmer, Audrey Thurm, Susan E. Swedo, and Karen J. Parker, Annals of Neurology, October 2018, Vol. 84, No. 4, 611-15. Address: Karen J. Parker, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Stanford University School of Medicine, 1201 Welch Road, Stanford, CA 94305-5485, [email protected]. 

—and—

 “Low brain hormone levels may be reliable marker of autism,” Nicholette Zeliadt, Spectrum News, November 5, 2018.