Naushad, S.M. and Jain, J.M.N. and Krishnaprasad, C. and Naik, U. and Radha Rama Devi, A. (2013) Autistic children exhibit distinct plasma amino acid profile. Indian Journal of Biochemistry and Biophysics, 50 (5). pp. 474-478. ISSN 0301-1208

Preview

Text IJBB 50 p474.pdf Download (45Kb) | Preview

Abstract

In order to ascertain whether autistic children display characteristic metabolic signatures that are of diagnostic value, plasma amino acid analyses were carried out on a cohort of 138 autistic children and 138 normal controls using reverse-phase HPLC. Pre-column derivatization of amino acids with phenyl isothiocyanate forms phenyl thio-carbamate derivates that have a lamba(max) of 254 nm, enabling their detection using photodiode array. Autistic children showed elevated levels of glutamic acid (120 +/- 89 vs. 83 +/- 35 micromol/L) and asparagine (85 +/- 37 vs. 47 +/- 19 micromol/L); lower levels of phenylalanine (45 +/- 20 vs. 59 +/- 18 micromol/L), tryptophan (24 +/- 11 vs. 41 +/- 16 micromol/L), methionine (22 +/- 9 vs. 28 +/- 9 micromol/L) and histidine (45 +/- 21 vs. 58 +/- 15 micromol/L). A low molar ratio of (tryptophan/large neutral amino acids) x 100 was observed in autism (5.4 vs 9.2), indicating lesser availability of tryptophan for neurotransmitter serotonin synthesis. To conclude, elevated levels of excitatory amino acids (glutamate and asparagine), decreased essential amino acids (phenylalanine, tryptophan and methionine) and decreased precursors of neurotransmitters (tyrosine and tryptophan) are the distinct characteristics of plasma amino acid profile of autistic children. Thus, such metabolic signatures might be useful tools for early diagnosis of autism.

Item Type:	Article
Depositing User:	Users 2 not found.
Date Deposited:	24 Nov 2015 10:00
Last Modified:	15 Dec 2015 10:07
URI:	http://cdfd.sciencecentral.in/id/eprint/676

Actions (login required)

View Item