New blood test may detect over 50% of children of autism spectrum disorder

Robert Burrier, PhD, Chief Operating Officer of Stemina and co-author points out that "Using metabolomics to detect objective biomarkers of ASD is a promising approach because metabolism is sensitive to interactions among the genome, gastrointestinal microbiome, diet, and environmental factors that all contribute to risk of ASD."

"The CAMP study is the seminal study of the metabolism of children with autism. The study was carefully designed to allow discovery and validation of subpopulations of children with ASD who share common metabolic differences from typically developing children," said Elizabeth Donley, JD, MBA, MS, NeuroPointDX Chief Executive Officer and a co-author of the publication. "We strive to discover, validate and publish peer reviewed science from this ground-breaking study with the goal of building trust in the rigor of our science and its potential to change how autism is diagnosed and treated."

"While further research is needed, given the virtual absence of effective biomarkers to detect autism risk in very young children, we are optimistic that this approach has enormous potential for identifying children as early as possible," said Dr. Amaral. "Moreover, determining that an individual child has a particular pattern of metabolic alterations may offer the possibility of new targeted and personalized therapies. These opportunities and questions require further testing in the CAMP study. Fortunately, CAMP retains a repository of blood samples from our young participants that can be used for follow-up studies. The current paper represents an important stride in the research journey toward understanding the role of metabotypes and their potential as actionable clinical tools in the detection and treatment of ASD."

"These new findings from the CAMP study represent another step in our efforts to develop a metabolomics-based screening tool for ASD," Donley added. "While biomarkers of any kind cannot provide a definitive diagnosis of ASD, combining a metabolomics-based screen with behavioral testing increases the likelihood that those at risk for ASD can be detected as early as possible."

While the published findings are based on collection of blood samples from children 18 to 48-months-old, future research will be directed at validating this metabolomics approach in children younger than one year old when current diagnostic procedures are lacking. The researchers are also exploring whether these metabolic differences can lead to insights that enable more targeted treatment options for children with ASD.

For further reference log on to:

http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/aur.2330