Autism Studies and Related Medical Conditions, January 2009 - TACA

occasionally occurred. If this pharmacologic practice is to continue, it is
important from a public safety standpoint that each nutrient be examined for
potential toxicities so that appropriate purity standards can be developed and the
risks weighed against the benefits when considering their use.
PMID: 10837313 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
Filipek PA, Juranek J, Nguyen MT, Cummings C, Gargus JJ. Relative carnitine deficiency
in autism. J Autism Dev Disord. 2004 Dec;34(6):615-23.
Department of Pediatrics, College of Medicine, University of California, Irvine, CA,
USA. filipek@uci.edu
A random retrospective chart review was conducted to document serum carnitine
levels on 100 children with autism. Concurrently drawn serum pyruvate, lactate,
ammonia, and alanine levels were also available in many of these children.
Values of free and total carnitine (p < 0.001), and pyruvate (p = 0.006) were
significantly reduced while ammonia and alanine levels were considerably
elevated (p < 0.001) in our autistic subjects. The relative carnitine deficiency in
these patients, accompanied by slight elevations in lactate and significant
elevations in alanine and ammonia levels, is suggestive of mild mitochondrial
dysfunction. It is hypothesized that a mitochondrial defect may be the origin of
the carnitine deficiency in these autistic children.
PMID: 15679182 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
Friedman SD, Shaw DW, Artru AA, Richards TL, Gardner J, Dawson G, Posse S, Dager
SR. Regional brain chemical alterations in young children with autism spectrum
disorder. Neurology. 2003 Jan 14;60(1):100-7.
Department of Radiology, University of Washington School of Medicine, Seattle
98105-6099, USA.
OBJECTIVE: The authors evaluated regional brain chemistry for evidence of
increased neuronal packing density in autism. METHODS: Forty-five 3- to 4-yearold
children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), 13 children with typical
development (TD), and 15 children with delayed development (DD) were studied
using dual-echo proton echoplanar spectroscopic imaging (32 x 32 matrix-1
cm(3) voxels) to measure brain chemical concentrations and relaxation times.
Chemical quantification was corrected for tissue partial volume and relative
measures of chemical relaxation (T(2r)) were calculated from the paired echoes.
Measures from averaged and individual regions were compared using analysis of
variance corrected for multiple comparisons. RESULTS: ASD subjects
demonstrated reduced N-acetylaspartate (NAA) (-10%), creatine (Cre) (-8%),
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