Mothers of children with autism found to have significantly different metabolite levels
Blood sample analysis showed key differences in several groups of
metabolites

Date:
January 13, 2021
Source:
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
Summary:
Blood sample analysis showed that, two to five years after they
gave birth, mothers of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD)
had several significantly different metabolite levels compared to
mothers of typically developing children.



FULL STORY ========================================================================== Blood sample analysis showed that, two to five years after they gave
birth, mothers of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) had
several significantly different metabolite levels compared to mothers of typically developing children. That's according to new research recently published in BMC Pediatrics by a multidisciplinary team from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Arizona State University, and the Mayo Clinic.


========================================================================== Researchers analyzed blood samples from 30 mothers whose young children
had been diagnosed with ASD and 29 mothers of typically developing
children. At the time that the samples were taken, the women's children
were between 2 and 5 years old. The team found differences in several metabolite levels between the two groups of mothers. When examined
further, researchers were able to group those differences into five
subgroups of correlated metabolites. While the samples analyzed were
taken several years after pregnancy, these research findings raise the
question of whether or not the differences in metabolites may have been
present during pregnancy as well, suggesting further research is needed
in this area.

Many of the variances, the researchers said, were linked to low levels
of folate, vitamin B12, and carnitine-conjugated molecules. Carnitine
can be produced by the body and can come from meat sources like pork or
beef, but there wasn't a correlation between mothers who ate more meat
and mothers who had higher levels of carnitine.

According to Juergen Hahn, the head of the Department of Biomedical
Engineering at Rensselaer and co-author on this paper, this finding
suggests that the differences may be related to how carnitine is
metabolized in some mothers' bodies.

"We had multiple metabolites that were associated with the carnitine metabolism," said Hahn, who is also a member of the Center for
Biotechnology and Interdisciplinary Studies at Rensselaer. "This suggests
that carnitine and mothers is something that should be looked at."
The team's big data approach proved to be highly accurate in using a
blood sample analysis to predict which group a mother belonged to, which suggests that the development of a blood test to screen for mothers who
are at a higher risk of having a child with ASD may be possible.

"A blood test would not be able to tell if your child has autism or
not, but it could tell if you're at a higher risk," Hahn said. "And the classification of higher risk, in this case, can actually be significant." "Based on these results, we are now conducting a new study of stored blood samples collected during pregnancy, to determine if those metabolites
are also different during pregnancy," said James Adams, a President's
Professor in the School of Engineering of Matter, Transport and Energy,
and director of the Autism/Asperger's Research Program, both at Arizona
State University. Adams co- authored this paper with Hahn.

This research builds upon Hahn's other work. He previously discovered
patterns with certain metabolites in the blood of children with autism
that can be used to successfully predict diagnosis. He has used this same method to investigate a mother's risk for having a child with ASD. He
and Adams have also done similar work studying children with autism who
have chronic gastrointestinal issues.


========================================================================== Story Source: Materials provided by
Rensselaer_Polytechnic_Institute. Note: Content may be edited for style
and length.


========================================================================== Journal Reference:
1. Kathryn Hollowood-Jones, James B. Adams, Devon M. Coleman, Sivapriya
Ramamoorthy, Stepan Melnyk, S. Jill James, Bryan K. Woodruff,
Elena L.

Pollard, Christine L. Snozek, Uwe Kruger, Joshua Chuah, Juergen
Hahn.

Altered metabolism of mothers of young children with Autism Spectrum
Disorder: a case control study. BMC Pediatrics, 2020; 20 (1) DOI:
10.1186/s12887-020-02437-7 ==========================================================================

Link to news story: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/01/210113132409.htm

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