In response to a 1999 groundbreaking study that found elevated peptides in children with either autism or mental retardation, the UC Davis M.I.N.D. Institute is launching the most comprehensive study of its kind to identify diagnostic markers for children who are likely to develop autism.
“Being able to predict who might develop autism will have a enormous impact on children with the neurodevelopmental disorder by allowing us to intervene earlier with effective treatments or, hopefully, by preventing autism from occurring,� said David G. Amaral, research director of the UC Davis M.I.N.D. Institute and principal investigator of the new study. “The 1999 study proved to us that finding a biomarker is possible, and it is a top priority for the M.I.N.D. Institute to identify it.�
To conduct this important research, the M.I.N.D. Institute has entered into an initial agreement with the Mountain View, Calif., company, SurroMed, Inc. to analyze clinical samples from about 105 children -- about 70 with autism and the remainder with typical development. Using SurroMed's advanced technologies for profiling and analyzing thousands of immune cell populations, proteins and low-molecular-weight organic molecules, such as sugars, peptides or lipids, in small volumes of blood and/or other biological samples, SurroMed and the M.I.N.D. Institute will be able to identify any unique properties present in the blood chemistry of children with autism. The results of these studies will be a major step toward the development of diagnostic tests.
“Although this is a relatively small study, it is the most comprehensive analysis for biological markers of autism conducted to date, monitoring more biological variables than ever before,� Amaral said.
One of the first studies funded by the M.I.N.D. Institute looked at the prevalence of eight peptides in blood spots collected from children at birth. The research discovered that several of the peptides were elevated in children who later became autistic or were mentally retarded, but not in children with cerebral palsy or normal control children. This work, conducted under the auspices of the California Birth Defects Monitoring Program by a team of researchers that included physicians Karin Nelson at the National Institutes of Health and Robin Hansen at the M.I.N.D. Institute, led to optimism that a diagnostic marker for autism could be identified using more sophisticated techniques.
“While their discovery was groundbreaking, the technology used in that study was slow, making it difficult to replicate or broaden,� Amaral said. “With SurroMed’s proprietary platform, we now have a technology that overcomes those earlier constraints.�
Results from this current study are expected by December 2003 and, if promising, the M.I.N.D. Institute would enter into negotiations with SurroMed to transfer the entire research platform to the institute to better accommodate the analysis of larger numbers of children.
The UC Davis M.I.N.D. Institute in Sacramento, Calif., was founded in 1998 as a unique interdisciplinary organization of parents, community leaders, researchers, clinicians and volunteers to study and treat autism, fragile X syndrome, dyslexia, attention deficit disorder, Asperger's syndrome and other neurodevelopmental disorders. More information about the institute is available here.