22 Sep Folate Metabolites Linked To Increased Risk of Autism Spectrum Disorder

MedicalResearch.com Interview with:

Prof., Hahn

Juergen Hahn PhD, Professor and
Department Head Department of Biomedical Engineerin
Department of Chemical & Biological Engineering Center for Biotechnology and Interdisciplinary Studies
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute

MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?

Response: Recent estimates indicate that if a mother has previously had a child with autism spectrum disorder, the risk of having a second child with ASD is ~18.7% whereas the risk of ASD in the general population is ~1.7%.

This work investigated if there is a difference in metabolites of the folate one carbon metabolism and the transulfuration pathway between the mothers that have had a child with ASD and those that have not. Furthermore, we investigated if there is a difference among the mothers who have had a child with autism spectrum disorder based upon if the child that they were pregnant with will have an ASD diagnosis by age 3. This part required follow up with the mothers three years later.

The main findings are that there are statistically significant differences in the metabolites between the mothers who have previously had a child with autism spectrum disorder, who have an 18.7% probability of having another child with ASD, and those who have not, who have an 1.7% probability of having a child with autism spectrum disorder.

However, we did not find differences among the mothers based upon if the child will be diagnosed with ASD at age 3.

MedicalResearch.com: What should readers take away from your report?

Response: Based upon the measurements it is not possible to determine during a pregnancy if a child will be diagnosed with ASD by age 3. However, differences in the folate-dependent transmethylation and transsulfuration metabolites are indicative of the risk level (High Risk of 18.7% vs. Low Risk of 1.7%) of the mother for having a child with autism spectrum disorder.

MedicalResearch.com: What recommendations do you have for future research as a result of this work?

Response: This study has not been replicated and we also had to make a number of assumptions which are listed in the paper. These points should be looked at in future research. My recommendation would be to replicate the comparison between mothers who have had a child with .autism spectrum disorder and those who have not and focus on recruiting an approximately equal number of mothers for each group and try to match the two groups by age and ethnicity.

Citation:

Maternal metabolic profile predicts high or low risk of an autism pregnancy outcome

KathrynHollowood^abStepanMelnyk^cOleksandraPavliv^cTeresaEvans^cAshleySides^dRebecca J.Schmidt^eIrvaHertz-Picciotto^eWilliamElms^eElizabethGuerrero^eUweKruger^aJuergenHahn^abfS. JillJames^c
Research in Autism Spectrum Disorders

Volume 56, December 2018, Pages 72-82

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Last Updated on September 22, 2018 by Marie Benz MD FAAD