Examining Autism Spectrum Disorders by Biomarkers: Example From the Oxytocin and Serotonin Systems
Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 06/26/2012
Clinical Article
Hammock E et al. – Identifying relationships between identified autism spectrum disorder (ASD) biomarkers may be a useful approach to connect otherwise disparate findings that span multiple systems in this heterogeneous disorder. Using neurochemical biomarkers to perform parallel studies in animal and human populations within a developmental context is a plausible approach to probe the root causes of ASD and to identify potential interventions.
Methods- In the first study, the authors analyzed correlations between these two biomarkers in 31 children and adolescents who were diagnosed with autism and were not on medications.
- In humans, OT and 5-HT were negatively correlated with each other (p < .05) and this relationship was most prominent in children less than 11 years old.
