New finding could yield urine test for autism

[FarCenter]

AFP - A newly discovered chemical fingerprint could yield a simple urine test to determine if a child has autism, according to a study released on Thursday.

Autism and related disorders affect up to six or seven out of every 1,000 individuals.

Symptoms are life-long and can vary widely, but often include impaired social skills, repetitive behaviours, difficulty in expressing one's emotions, and an aversion to physical intimacy. There is no known cure.

The factors leading to autism are generally present at birth, but the disorder is difficult to diagnose as it can be confused with other behaviour-related problems.

<SNIP>

Surprisingly, the key to the chemical fingerprint is found in the digestive tract.

People with autism typically suffer from gastrointestinal problems stemming from a different bacterial makeup in the gut.

The study, published in the Journal of Proteome Research, found that the way in which the body metabolises these unique intestinal flora creates a chemical signature in urine.

Using spectroscopy, Nicholson and colleagues from the University of South Australia analysed the urine in three groups of three-to-nine year olds: those diagnosed with autism, non-autistic siblings of children with autism, and a control group with no history of autism in the family.

Each group had an internally consistent chemical fingerprint that was, at the same time, distinct from the other two.


http://www.france24.com/en/20100603-new-finding-could-yield-urine-test-autism

[FarCenter]

1. Urinary Metabolic Phenotyping Differentiates Children with Autism from Their Unaffected Siblings and

Urinary Metabolic Phenotyping Differentiates Children with Autism from Their Unaffected Siblings and Age-Matched Controls

Abstract

Autism is an early onset developmental disorder with a severe life-long impact on behavior and social functioning that has associated metabolic abnormalities. The urinary metabolic phenotypes of individuals (age range=3−9 years old) diagnosed with autism using the DSM-IV-TR criteria (n = 39; male = 35; female = 4), together with their nonautistic siblings (n = 28; male = 14; female = 14) and age-matched healthy volunteers (n = 34, male = 17; female = 17) have been characterized for the first time using 1H NMR spectroscopy and pattern recognition methods. Novel findings associated with alterations in nicotinic acid metabolism within autistic individuals showing increased urinary excretion of N-methyl-2-pyridone-5-carboxamide, N-methyl nicotinic acid, and N-methyl nicotinamide indicate a perturbation in the tryptophan−nicotinic acid metabolic pathway. Multivariate statistical analysis indicated urinary patterns of the free amino acids, glutamate and taurine were significantly different between groups with the autistic children showing higher levels of urinary taurine and a lower level of urinary glutamate, indicating perturbation in sulfur and amino acid metabolism in these children. Additionally, metabolic phenotype (metabotype) differences were observed between autistic and control children, which were associated with perturbations in the relative patterns of urinary mammalian-microbial cometabolites including dimethylamine, hippurate, and phenyacetylglutamine. These biochemical changes are consistent with some of the known abnormalities of gut microbiota found in autistic individuals and the associated gastrointestinal dysfunction and may be of value in monitoring the success of therapeutic interventions.

http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/pr901188e

[KamaAina]

2. Well, I am a pretty prolific piss artist

seriesly, this test would be useful in diagnosing one subtype of autism -- the one associated with gastrointestinal disorders. In other words, most kids whose pee turns purple or whatever will have autism, but not all kids with autism will necessarily have purple pee.

And as for "an aversion to physical intimacy", that's not me so much as it is the entire feminine gender. :(

[pnwmom]

4. There's another complication. Not everyone with gastrointestinal differences

is aware of them and/or symptomatic. For example, there are many people who weren't aware they had Celiac silently damaging their upper intestine until a sibling got diagnosed and they were then tested.

[pnwmom]

3. So the question also arises: could changes in the intestinal flora also

affect (for better or worse) autism symptoms.

[FarCenter]

5. I had not heard of a connection between autism and gut flora, but apparently they have an effect

http://blog.autismspeaks.org/2010/04/14/intestine-leaky-gut-and-autism-a-serendipitous-association-of-a-planned-design/

Intestine, Leaky Gut, and Autism: A Serendipitous Association of a Planned Design?

What's not so clear is whether the flora are out of place (small intestine instead of large intestine) and whether they are causal or not (e.g. gluten intolerance causes inflamation which allows them to flourish and their products to cross into the blood).

Not addressed is whether correcting the gut problem, whatever it is, has a healing effect on autism, arrests autism, or would have little effect on the future course of the disease (because the damage is already done).