Ngounou Wetie Armand G, Wormwood Kelly L, Russell Stefanie, Ryan Jeanne P, Darie Costel C, Woods Alisa G
Department of Chemistry and Biomolecular Science, Biochemistry and Proteomics Group, Clarkson University, 8 Clarkson Avenue, Potsdam, New York, 13699-5810.
SUNY Plattsburgh Neuropsychology Clinic and Psychoeducation Services, 101 Broad Street, Plattsburgh, New York, 12901.
Autism Res. 2015 Jun;8(3):338-50. doi: 10.1002/aur.1450. Epub 2015 Jan 27.
Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) prevalence is increasing, with current estimates at 1/68-1/50 individuals diagnosed with an ASD. Diagnosis is based on behavioral assessments. Early diagnosis and intervention is known to greatly improve functional outcomes in people with ASD. Diagnosis, treatment monitoring and prognosis of ASD symptoms could be facilitated with biomarkers to complement behavioral assessments. Mass spectrometry (MS) based proteomics may help reveal biomarkers for ASD. In this pilot study, we have analyzed the salivary proteome in individuals with ASD compared to neurotypical control subjects, using MS-based proteomics. Our goal is to optimize methods for salivary proteomic biomarker discovery and to identify initial putative biomarkers in people with ASDs. The salivary proteome is virtually unstudied in ASD, and saliva could provide an easily accessible biomaterial for analysis. Using nano liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry, we found statistically significant differences in several salivary proteins, including elevated prolactin-inducible protein, lactotransferrin, Ig kappa chain C region, Ig gamma-1 chain C region, Ig lambda-2 chain C regions, neutrophil elastase, polymeric immunoglobulin receptor and deleted in malignant brain tumors 1. Our results indicate that this is an effective method for identification of salivary protein biomarkers, support the concept that immune system and gastrointestinal disturbances may be present in individuals with ASDs and point toward the need for larger studies in behaviorally-characterized individuals.
自闭症谱系障碍（ASD）的患病率正在上升，目前估计每68至50人中就有1人被诊断患有ASD。诊断基于行为评估。众所周知，早期诊断和干预能显著改善ASD患者的功能预后。ASD症状的诊断、治疗监测和预后判断可借助生物标志物来辅助行为评估。基于质谱（MS）的蛋白质组学可能有助于揭示ASD的生物标志物。在这项初步研究中，我们使用基于MS的蛋白质组学分析了ASD个体与神经典型对照受试者的唾液蛋白质组。我们的目标是优化唾液蛋白质组学生物标志物的发现方法，并识别ASD患者最初的潜在生物标志物。在ASD中，唾液蛋白质组几乎未被研究过，而唾液可为分析提供一种易于获取的生物材料。通过纳米液相色谱 - 串联质谱法，我们发现了几种唾液蛋白质存在统计学上的显著差异，包括催乳素诱导蛋白、乳铁传递蛋白、免疫球蛋白κ链C区、免疫球蛋白γ-1链C区、免疫球蛋白λ-2链C区、中性粒细胞弹性蛋白酶、聚合免疫球蛋白受体和恶性脑肿瘤缺失蛋白1水平升高。我们的结果表明，这是一种识别唾液蛋白质生物标志物的有效方法，支持了ASD患者可能存在免疫系统和胃肠道紊乱的观点，并指出需要对具有行为特征的个体进行更大规模的研究。
