SYNOPSIS
Metabolism-based analysis may enable earlier autism diagnosis and treatment on the basis of an autistic individual’s “unique metabolic signature.”
TITLE
Amino acid dysregulation metabotypes: potential biomarkers for diagnosis and individualized treatment for subtypes of autism spectrum disorder
CITATION
Smith AM, King JJ, West PR, et al. Biological Psychiatry. 2019;85(4):345-354.
SUMMARY
The article describes a large-scale effort to define biomarkers for autism using metabolism-based analysis in young children. Whereas autism is currently diagnosed on the basis of behavioral characteristics, “metabolism-based analysis has the merit of being sensitive to interactions among the genome, gut microbiome, diet, and environmental factors that contribute to the unique metabolic signature” of individuals with autism. Metabolism-based biomarkers may also be able to identify metabolically defined subtypes—“metabotypes”—with the potential for earlier diagnosis and more targeted treatment.
