Rivierduinen Institute for Mental Healthcare, Leiden, The Netherlands.
School for Mental Health and Neuroscience, Maastricht University, Maastricht, The Netherlands.
Transl Psychiatry. 2021 Jan 13;11(1):47. doi: 10.1038/s41398-020-01174-w.
Alterations in dopamine signalling have been implied in autism spectrum disorder (ASD), and these could be associated with the risk of developing a psychotic disorder in ASD adults. Negative social experiences and feelings of social defeat might result in an increase in dopamine functioning. However, few studies examined dopamine functioning in vivo in ASD. Here we examine whether striatal dopamine synthesis capacity is increased in ASD and associated with social defeat. Forty-four unmedicated, non-psychotic adults diagnosed with ASD and 22 matched controls, aged 18-30 years, completed a dynamic 3,4-dihydroxy-6-[F]-fluoro-L-phenylalanine positron emission tomography/computed tomography ([F]-FDOPA PET/CT) scan to measure presynaptic dopamine synthesis capacity in the striatum. We considered unwanted loneliness, ascertained using the UCLA Loneliness Scale, as primary measure of social defeat. We found no statistically significant difference in striatal dopamine synthesis capacity between ASD and controls (F = 0.026, p = 0.87). In ASD, striatal dopamine synthesis capacity was not significantly associated with loneliness (β = 0.01, p = 0.96). Secondary analyses showed comparable results when examining the associative, limbic, and sensorimotor sub-regions of the striatum (all p-values > 0.05). Results were similar before and after adjusting for age, sex, smoking-status, and PET/CT-scanner-type. In conclusion, in unmedicated, non-psychotic adults with ASD, striatal dopamine synthesis capacity is not increased and not associated with social defeat.
多巴胺信号的改变与自闭症谱系障碍（ASD）有关，这些改变可能与 ASD 成人发展精神病的风险有关。负面的社会经历和被击败的感觉可能会导致多巴胺功能的增加。然而，很少有研究在 ASD 中检查体内多巴胺功能。在这里，我们研究 ASD 患者纹状体多巴胺合成能力是否增加，以及是否与社会失败有关。44 名未经药物治疗、非精神病的 ASD 成年患者和 22 名匹配的对照者（年龄 18-30 岁）完成了动态 3,4-二羟基-6-[F]-氟-L-苯丙氨酸正电子发射断层扫描/计算机断层扫描([F]-FDOPA PET/CT)扫描，以测量纹状体中的前突触多巴胺合成能力。我们认为使用加州大学洛杉矶分校孤独量表（UCLA Loneliness Scale）确定的不想要的孤独感是社会失败的主要衡量标准。我们没有发现 ASD 和对照组之间纹状体多巴胺合成能力存在统计学上的显著差异（F=0.026，p=0.87）。在 ASD 中，纹状体多巴胺合成能力与孤独感无显著相关性（β=0.01，p=0.96）。当我们检查纹状体的关联、边缘和感觉运动亚区时，得到了类似的次要分析结果（所有 p 值均>0.05）。在调整年龄、性别、吸烟状况和 PET/CT 扫描仪类型后，结果仍然相似。总之，在未经药物治疗、非精神病的 ASD 成年患者中，纹状体多巴胺合成能力没有增加，也与社会失败无关。
