Department of Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology, University of Cambridge, Tennis Court Road, Cambridge CB2 1QT, UK.
Mol Autism. 2013 Aug 6;4(1):27. doi: 10.1186/2040-2392-4-27.
Autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) are neurodevelopmental conditions with symptoms manifesting before the age of 3, generally persisting throughout life and affecting social development and communication. Here, we have investigated changes in protein biomarkers in blood during childhood and adolescent development.
We carried out a multiplex immunoassay profiling analysis of serum samples from 37 individuals with a diagnosis of ASD and their matched, non-affected siblings, aged between 4 and 18 years, to identify molecular pathways affected over the course of ASDs.
This analysis revealed age-dependent differences in the levels of 12 proteins involved in inflammation, growth and hormonal signaling.
These deviations in age-related molecular trajectories provide further insight into the progression and pathophysiology of the disorder and, if replicated, may contribute to better classification of ASD individuals, as well as to improved treatment and prognosis. The results also underline the importance of stratifying and analyzing samples by age, especially in ASD and potentially other developmental disorders.
自闭症谱系障碍（ASD）是一种神经发育障碍，其症状在 3 岁前表现出来，通常会持续一生，并影响社交发展和沟通。在这里，我们研究了儿童和青少年发育过程中血液中蛋白质生物标志物的变化。
我们对 37 名被诊断为 ASD 的个体及其匹配的、未受影响的兄弟姐妹的血清样本进行了多重免疫分析谱分析，年龄在 4 至 18 岁之间，以确定在 ASD 过程中受影响的分子途径。
该分析显示了参与炎症、生长和激素信号的 12 种蛋白质水平的年龄依赖性差异。
这些与年龄相关的分子轨迹的偏差为该疾病的进展和病理生理学提供了进一步的见解，如果得到复制，可能有助于更好地对 ASD 个体进行分类，并改善治疗和预后。这些结果还强调了按年龄分层和分析样本的重要性，特别是在 ASD 和潜在的其他发育障碍中。
