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Is there sexual dimorphism of hyperserotonemia in autism spectrum disorder?

Is there sexual dimorphism of hyperserotonemia in autism spectrum disorder? Approximately 30% of individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) have elevated whole blood serotonin (5‐HT) levels. Genetic linkage and association studies of ASD and of whole blood 5‐HT levels as a quantitative trait have revealed sexual dimorphism. Few studies have examined the presence of a sex difference on hyperserotonemia within ASD. To assess whether the rate of hyperserotonemia is different in males than in females with ASD, we measured whole blood 5‐HT levels in 292 children and adolescents with ASD, the largest sample in which this biomarker has been assessed. Based upon previous work suggesting that hyperserotonemia is more common prior to puberty, we focused our analysis on the 182 pre‐pubertal children with ASD. 42% of pre‐pubertal participants were within the hyperserotonemia range. In this population, we found that males were significantly more likely to manifest hyperserotonemia than females (P = 0.03). As expected, no significant difference was found in the post‐pubertal population. Additional work will be needed to replicate this intriguing finding and to understand whether it could potentially explain differences in patterns of ASD risk between males and females. Autism Res 2017, 10: 1417–1423. © 2017 International Society for Autism Research, Wiley Periodicals, Inc. http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Autism Research Wiley

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References (49)

Publisher
Wiley
Copyright
© 2017 International Society for Autism Research, Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
ISSN
1939-3792
eISSN
1939-3806
DOI
10.1002/aur.1791
pmid
28401654
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

Approximately 30% of individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) have elevated whole blood serotonin (5‐HT) levels. Genetic linkage and association studies of ASD and of whole blood 5‐HT levels as a quantitative trait have revealed sexual dimorphism. Few studies have examined the presence of a sex difference on hyperserotonemia within ASD. To assess whether the rate of hyperserotonemia is different in males than in females with ASD, we measured whole blood 5‐HT levels in 292 children and adolescents with ASD, the largest sample in which this biomarker has been assessed. Based upon previous work suggesting that hyperserotonemia is more common prior to puberty, we focused our analysis on the 182 pre‐pubertal children with ASD. 42% of pre‐pubertal participants were within the hyperserotonemia range. In this population, we found that males were significantly more likely to manifest hyperserotonemia than females (P = 0.03). As expected, no significant difference was found in the post‐pubertal population. Additional work will be needed to replicate this intriguing finding and to understand whether it could potentially explain differences in patterns of ASD risk between males and females. Autism Res 2017, 10: 1417–1423. © 2017 International Society for Autism Research, Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Journal

Autism ResearchWiley

Published: Aug 1, 2017

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