Autism finding could lead to simple urine test for the condition

[Celebration]

http://www.physorg.com/news194764448.html

Children with autism have a different chemical fingerprint in their urine than non-autistic children, according to new research published tomorrow in the print edition of the Journal of Proteome Research.

.......................................

Professor Jeremy Nicholson, the corresponding author of the study, who is the Head of the Department of Surgery and Cancer at Imperial College London, said: "Autism is a condition that affects a person's social skills, so at first it might seem strange that there's a relationship between autism and what's happening in someone's gut. However, your metabolism and the makeup of your gut bacteria reflect all sorts of things, including your lifestyle and your genes. Autism affects many different parts of a person's system and our study shows that you can see how it disrupts their system by looking at their metabolism and their gut bacteria.

"We hope our findings might be the first step towards creating a simple urine test to diagnose autism at a really young age, although this is a long way off - such a test could take many years to develop and we're just beginning to explore the possibilities. We know that giving therapy to children with autism when they are very young can make a huge difference to their progress. A urine test might enable professionals to quickly identify children with autism and help them early on," he added.

The researchers are now keen to investigate whether metabolic differences in people with autism are related to the causes of the condition or are a consequence of its progression.

The researchers reached their conclusions by using H NMR Spectroscopy to analyse the urine of three groups of children aged between 3 and 9: 39 children who had previously been diagnosed with autism, 28 non-autistic siblings of children with autism, and 34 children who did not have autism who did not have an autistic sibling.

They found that each of the three groups had a distinct chemical fingerprint. Non-autistic children with autistic siblings had a different chemical fingerprint than those without any autistic siblings, and autistic children had a different chemical fingerprint than the other two groups.

[Klukie]

1. I gave this a rec. and someone took it away..don't understand why

[Celebration]

2. LOL

You must not hang around in the "Health" forum much.

[Tesha]

3. Many folks here are completely invested in autism being caused by vaccines;

they will likely reject any evidence that it might be a
metabolic disorder and especially evidence that it might
be a genetic metabolic disorder.

Tesha

[Celebration]

4. Or, more likely

They generally discount anything that shows that the gut is in any way connected to the autism.

[glitch]

16. Indeed. Or that it could possibly have environmental factors. nt

[trotsky]

22. I don't know of anyone who dismisses environmental factors...

as a possible cause of autism. Where'd you find that strawman?

[glitch]

23. Environmental includes human actions, even

wait for it


vaccines!

Here's your cue: :banghead:

[trotsky]

24. However that's not what you said.

Wonderful strawman, indeed.

[HuckleB]

5. Indeed.

The findings ....

-- "They found that each of the three groups had a distinct chemical fingerprint. Non-autistic children with autistic siblings had a different chemical fingerprint than those without any autistic siblings, and autistic children had a different chemical fingerprint than the other two groups." --

... seem to indicate a greater likelihood that this finding (if it's replicated -- first things first) has a genetic basis, rather than an environmental cause. But time will tell if this leads anywhere at all. In the world of science, the odds that this leads to much are not great.

[Celebration]

8. Since at this point we can't do much about inherited genes

It would behoove the researchers to find out exactly how autistic children differed from their siblings. But, a chemical fingerprint isn't exactly a gene test. It may be a result of specific habits or locations of a family, OR it may be due to inherited genes. The study gives no information on this whatsoever.

But a family shares more than genes--they share diets, they share locations, they share water.

[HuckleB]

9. Yes, those factors are obvious matters, if this research is serious.

That hardly discounts the matter of genetics, as you apparently want to do. I could go on about the likelihood that siblings have some big differences in food intake etc..., but why should I bother? (Also of interest, is that this study has been PR'd since April, despite the fact that it's not yet published. That's often an indication that the actual study will not be quite as adamant as the PR, to be kind. We will find out.)

[Celebration]

10. exactly how am I discounting it?

That's a ridiculous claim, with no basis.

[HuckleB]

11. If you say so.

Your post above indicates otherwise.

I quote you: "Since at this point we can't do much about inherited genes..."

:eyes:

[Celebration]

12. well, can we?

Do you disagree with that? Gene therapy could be in the future, but it isn't exactly now

http://www.ornl.gov/sci/techresources/Human_Genome/medicine/genetherapy.shtml

"The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has not yet approved any human gene therapy product for sale. Current gene therapy is experimental and has not proven very successful in clinical trials. Little progress has been made since the first gene therapy clinical trial began in 1990. In 1999, gene therapy suffered a major setback with the death of 18-year-old Jesse Gelsinger. Jesse was participating in a gene therapy trial for ornithine transcarboxylase deficiency (OTCD). He died from multiple organ failures 4 days after starting the treatment. His death is believed to have been triggered by a severe immune response to the adenovirus carrier."

[HuckleB]

13. Thank you for proving my point. It's much appreciated.

:rofl:

[Celebration]

15. as usual, a non-answer

:rofl:

[HuckleB]

20. Thank you for continuing to prove my point.

Wow! Seriously, thanks for the laugh!

:rofl:

[Odin2005]

19. No thanks, I don't want to be "cured".

Eugenics = :puke:

[eridani]

21. Actually we can. Not change the gene, but do a workaround

Like with PKU. Avoid brain damage by lowering dietary phenylalanine.

[zazen]

6. what about high-functioning Asperger's?

There's an autistic spectrum. Would people on the high-functioning end show differences too?

[Celebration]

7. That's a good idea for future research n/t

[Celebration]

14. delete

[mzmolly]

17. Excellent news if it pans out!

This discovery seems to have treatment implications as well?

K and R

[Celebration]

18. Could be

If the marker is actually also a cause, they could work on strategies to see what affects the marker.

[HuckleB]

25. Urine Test for Autism? Let's Wait and See

http://autism.about.com/b/2010/06/04/urine-test-for-autism-lets-wait-and-see.htm

AND:

Urine test for autism? Hmmm
http://leftbrainrightbrain.co.uk/2010/06/urine-test-for-autism-hmmm/


As is often the case with pre-publication press releases, the hype doesn't seem to meet the reality.

[Odin2005]

26. Especially if scummy groups like Autism Speaks are funding sources