scholarly journals The Urine Metabolome of Young Autistic Children Correlates with Their Clinical Profile Severity

Metabolites ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (11) ◽  
pp. 476
Author(s):  
Michele Mussap ◽  
Martina Siracusano ◽  
Antonio Noto ◽  
Claudia Fattuoni ◽  
Assia Riccioni ◽  
...  

Autism diagnosis is moving from the identification of common inherited genetic variants to a systems biology approach. The aims of the study were to explore metabolic perturbations in autism, to investigate whether the severity of autism core symptoms may be associated with specific metabolic signatures; and to examine whether the urine metabolome discriminates severe from mild-to-moderate restricted, repetitive, and stereotyped behaviors. We enrolled 57 children aged 2–11 years; thirty-one with idiopathic autism and twenty-six neurotypical (NT), matched for age and ethnicity. The urine metabolome was investigated by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). The urinary metabolome of autistic children was largely distinguishable from that of NT children; food selectivity induced further significant metabolic differences. Severe autism spectrum disorder core deficits were marked by high levels of metabolites resulting from diet, gut dysbiosis, oxidative stress, tryptophan metabolism, mitochondrial dysfunction. The hierarchical clustering algorithm generated two metabolic clusters in autistic children: 85–90% of children with mild-to-moderate abnormal behaviors fell in cluster II. Our results open up new perspectives for the more general understanding of the correlation between the clinical phenotype of autistic children and their urine metabolome. Adipic acid, palmitic acid, and 3-(3-hydroxyphenyl)-3-hydroxypropanoic acid can be proposed as candidate biomarkers of autism severity.

2021 ◽  
Vol 28 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daljeet Singh Dhanjal ◽  
Sonali Bhardwaj ◽  
Chirag Chopra ◽  
Reena Singh ◽  
Jiri Patocka ◽  
...  

: Autism is a neurodevelopmental disorder belonging to the autism spectrum disorder (ASD). In ASDs, the individuals show substantial impairments in social communication, repetitive behaviours, and sensory behaviours deficits in the early stages of their life. Globally, the prevalence of autism is estimated to be less than 1%, especially in high-income countries. In recent decades, there has been a drastic increase in the incidence of ASD, which has put ASD into the category of epidemics. Presently, two US Food and Drug Administration-approved drugs, aripiprazole and risperidone are used to treat symptoms of agitation and irritability in autistic children. However, to date, no medication has been found to treat the core symptoms of ASD. The adverse side effects of conventional medicine and limited treatment options have led families and parents of autistic children to turn to complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) treatments, which are perceived as relatively safe compared to conventional medicine. Recently, N,N-dimethylglycine (DMG), a dietary supplement, has emerged as a useful supplement to improve the mental and physical state of children with ASD. The current review discusses ASD, the prevalence of ASD, CAM approach and efficacy of CAM treatment in children with ASD. Moreover, it highlights the chemistry, pharmacological effect, and clinical studies of DMG, highlighting its potential for improving the lifestyle of children with ASD.


Author(s):  
Inas R El-alameey ◽  
Hanaa H Ahmed ◽  
Ihab M Eid ◽  
Ghada El-dory ◽  
Manal Gameel

 Objectives: The objectives of the study were to assess serum dipeptidyl peptidase-IV (DPP-IV) activity in autistic children suffering from severe gastrointestinal (GI) disorder and to examine the hypothesis that there is a link between DPP-IV activity in serum and GI disorder in a subgroup of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD).Subjects and Methods: Serum levels of casein antibodies and DPP-IV enzyme activity from 40 autistic children with chronic GI symptoms, and 40 of age-matched children without autism or gastrointestinal (GI) symptoms were assayed using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay kits.Results: In comparison with controls, developmental milestones were delayed among autistic children. The serum DPP-IV activity was significantly lower in the studied patients (p<0.05), while the mean serum levels of casein antibodies were statistically significantly higher in the studied patients (p<0.01). Multiple logistic regression analysis recorded significant association between the high serum level of antibodies to casein, food selectivity and recurrent attacks of abdominal pain (p<0.05), while the low serum DPP-IV enzyme activity was associated with recurrent attacks of abdominal pain in the studied patients with a prediction of 95% (p<0.05).Conclusions: Serum levels of casein antibodies were higher in children with ASD, and maybe contributes to their abdominal pain, and food selectivity. Serum DPP-IV enzyme activity was lower and associated with recurrent attacks of abdominal pain in the studied patients. They may benefit from a supplemental digestive enzyme formula.


2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (11) ◽  
pp. e564101120269
Author(s):  
Christine K. Syriopoulou-Delli ◽  
Maria Zygopoulou

Repetitive and stereotyped behaviors (RSBs) are core symptoms of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), and they affect the functionality of individuals with ASD. Robot assisted therapy can be beneficial for children with ASD in various ways, but relevant research focusing specifically on robot enhanced interventions (REIs) for RSBs in children with ASD has been limited. A scoping review was conducted to explore the role of REIs on RSBs of children with ASD and to investigate the components of REIs focusing on RSBs of younger and older children with ASD. A literature search was made in the databases of Scopus, PubMed, Web of Science, EBSCO, MEDLINE, and Google Scholar, using keywords pertaining to robots, ASD, RSBs, and children. Of the 89 studies identified, 10 met the inclusion criteria. They involved 99 participants aged 3-14 years (mean 7.27 years) from six countries on three different continents. These studies varied with respect to sample size, the research design, the robot used, the length of intervention, the training and the type of measurement. Following the application of most REIs, the participants showed reduction in RSBs. Only one study reported that REI led to some increase in stereotyped behaviors in children with ASD and one detected no training-related changes in repetitive behaviors. The review findings indicate the potential of REIs for reducing RSBs in children with ASD, but the relevant studies were diverse, and controlled studies with larger samples of children and rigorous design are needed to clarify their impact.


2020 ◽  
Vol 29 (4) ◽  
pp. 1783-1797
Author(s):  
Kelly L. Coburn ◽  
Diane L. Williams

Purpose Neurodevelopmental processes that begin during gestation and continue throughout childhood typically support language development. Understanding these processes can help us to understand the disruptions to language that occur in neurodevelopmental conditions, such as autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Method For this tutorial, we conducted a focused literature review on typical postnatal brain development and structural and functional magnetic resonance imaging, diffusion tensor imaging, magnetoencephalography, and electroencephalography studies of the neurodevelopmental differences that occur in ASD. We then integrated this knowledge with the literature on evidence-based speech-language intervention practices for autistic children. Results In ASD, structural differences include altered patterns of cortical growth and myelination. Functional differences occur at all brain levels, from lateralization of cortical functions to the rhythmic activations of single neurons. Neuronal oscillations, in particular, could help explain disrupted language development by elucidating the timing differences that contribute to altered functional connectivity, complex information processing, and speech parsing. Findings related to implicit statistical learning, explicit task learning, multisensory integration, and reinforcement in ASD are also discussed. Conclusions Consideration of the neural differences in autistic children provides additional scientific support for current recommended language intervention practices. Recommendations consistent with these neurological findings include the use of short, simple utterances; repetition of syntactic structures using varied vocabulary; pause time; visual supports; and individualized sensory modifications.


Author(s):  
Mohana Priya K ◽  
Pooja Ragavi S ◽  
Krishna Priya G

Clustering is the process of grouping objects into subsets that have meaning in the context of a particular problem. It does not rely on predefined classes. It is referred to as an unsupervised learning method because no information is provided about the "right answer" for any of the objects. Many clustering algorithms have been proposed and are used based on different applications. Sentence clustering is one of best clustering technique. Hierarchical Clustering Algorithm is applied for multiple levels for accuracy. For tagging purpose POS tagger, porter stemmer is used. WordNet dictionary is utilized for determining the similarity by invoking the Jiang Conrath and Cosine similarity measure. Grouping is performed with respect to the highest similarity measure value with a mean threshold. This paper incorporates many parameters for finding similarity between words. In order to identify the disambiguated words, the sense identification is performed for the adjectives and comparison is performed. semcor and machine learning datasets are employed. On comparing with previous results for WSD, our work has improvised a lot which gives a percentage of 91.2%


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jason He ◽  
Ericka Wodka ◽  
Mark Tommerdahl ◽  
Richard Edden ◽  
Mark Mikkelsen ◽  
...  

Alterations of tactile processing have long been identified in autism spectrum disorders (ASD) and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). However, the extent to which these alterations are disorder-specific, rather than disorder-general, and how they relate to the core symptoms of each disorder, remains unclear. We measured and compared tactile detection, discrimination and order judgment thresholds between a large sample of children with ASD, ADHD, ASD + ADHD combined and typically developing controls. The pattern of results suggested that while difficulties with tactile detection and order judgement were more common in children with ADHD, difficulties with tactile discrimination were more common in children with ASD. Strikingly, subsequent correlation analyses found that the disorder-specific alterations suggested by the group comparisons were also exclusively related to the core symptoms of each respective disorder. These results suggest that disorder-specific alterations of lower-level sensory processes exist and are specifically related to higher-level clinical symptoms of each disorder.


Author(s):  
Holly K. Harris ◽  
Collin Lee ◽  
Georgios D. Sideridis ◽  
William J. Barbaresi ◽  
Elizabeth Harstad

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-11
Author(s):  
Denis Pavăl ◽  
Ioana Valentina Micluția

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) comprises a group of neurodevelopmental disorders characterized by social deficits and stereotyped behaviors. Despite intensive research, its etiopathogenesis remains largely unclear. Although studies consistently reported dopaminergic anomalies, a coherent dopaminergic model of ASD was lacking until recently. In 2017, we provided a theoretical framework for a “dopamine hypothesis of ASD” which proposed that autistic behavior arises from a dysfunctional midbrain dopaminergic system. Namely, we hypothesized that malfunction of 2 critical circuits originating in the midbrain, that is, the mesocorticolimbic and nigrostriatal pathways, generates the core behavioral features of ASD. Moreover, we provided key predictions of our model along with testing means. Since then, a notable number of studies referenced our work and numerous others provided support for our model. To account for these developments, we review all these recent data and discuss their implications. Furthermore, in the light of these new insights, we further refine and reconceptualize our model, debating on the possibility that various etiologies of ASD converge upon a dysfunctional midbrain dopaminergic system. In addition, we discuss future prospects, providing new means of testing our hypothesis, as well as its limitations. Along these lines, we aimed to provide a model which, if confirmed, could provide a better understanding of the etiopathogenesis of ASD along with new therapeutic strategies.


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