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Mitochondrial enzyme dysfunction in autism spectrum disorders; a novel biomarker revealed from buccal swab analysis
Journal article   Peer reviewed

Mitochondrial enzyme dysfunction in autism spectrum disorders; a novel biomarker revealed from buccal swab analysis

Michael J Goldenthal, Shirish Damle, Sudip Sheth, Nidhi Shah, Joseph Melvin, Reena Jethva, Huntley Hardison, Harold Marks and Agustin Legido
Biomarkers in medicine, v 9(10), pp 957-965
2015
PMID: 26439018

Abstract

Adolescent Autism Spectrum Disorder - enzymology Autism Spectrum Disorder - pathology Biomarkers - metabolism Case-Control Studies Cheek Child Child, Preschool Cohort Studies Electron Transport Chain Complex Proteins - metabolism Female Humans Male Mitochondria - enzymology Specimen Handling Young Adult
Mitochondrial function studies in autism spectrum disorders (ASD) have detected skeletal muscle mitochondrial enzyme deficiencies in respiratory complex (RC) activities. As a muscle biopsy is expensive and invasive, we assessed RC-I and RC-IV activities in buccal swabs. 92 children with ASD and 68 controls were studied with immunocapture for RC-I and microspectrophotometry for RC-IV. Significant RC activity deficiencies were found in 39 (42%) ASD patients (p < 0.01) and more prevalent in more severe cases. Aberrant RC overactivity was seen in 9 children. RC-I/RC-IV activity ratio was significantly increased in 64% of the entire ASD cohort including 76% of those more severely affected (p < 0.05). Buccal swab analysis revealed extensive RC abnormalities in ASD providing a noninvasive biomarker to assess mitochondrial function in ASD patients.

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Web of Science research areas
Medicine, Research & Experimental
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