Autism Studies and Related Medical Conditions, January 2009 - TACA

patients with classical autism or ASP, or controls. Patients diagnosed with both
autism and ASP showed significantly increased levels of EPA ( approximately
200%) and DHA ( approximately 40%), and significantly reduced levels of ARA (
approximately 20%), 20:3n-6 and ARA/EPA ratio in their RBC polar lipids, when
supplemented with EPA-rich fish oils, compared to controls and nonsupplemented
patients with autism. Patients with both regressive autism and
classical autism/Asperger's syndrome had significantly higher concentrations of
RBC type IV phospholipase A2 compared to controls. However, patients with
autism/ASP, who had taken EPA supplements, had significantly reduced PLA2
concentrations compared to unsupplemented patients with classical autism or
ASP.
Bell, J. G., J. R. Sargent, et al. (2000). "Red blood cell fatty acid compositions in a
patient with autistic spectrum disorder: a characteristic abnormality in
neurodevelopmental disorders?" Prostaglandins Leukot Essent Fatty Acids 63(1-2): 21-
5.
The fatty acid compositions of red blood cell (RBC) phospholipids from a patient
with autistic spectrum disorder (ASD) had reduced percentages of highly
unsaturated fatty acids (HUFA) compared to control samples. The percentage of
HUFA in the RBC from the autistic patient was dramatically reduced (up to 70%)
when the sample was stored for 6 weeks at -20 degrees C. However, only minor
HUFA reductions were recorded in control samples stored similarly, or when the
autistic sample was stored at -80 degrees C. A similar instability in RBC HUFA
compositions upon storage at -20 degrees C has been recorded in schizophrenic
patients. In a number of other neurodevelopmental conditions, including
attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and dyslexia, reduced
concentrations of RBC HUFA have been recorded. The extent and nature of these
aberrations require further assessment to determine a possible common
biochemical origin of neurodevelopmental disorders in general. To facilitate this,
a large scale assessment of RBC fatty acid compositions in patients with ASD,
and related disorders, should be performed as a matter of urgency.
Supplementing cells in culture with the tryptophan metabolite indole acrylic acid
(IAA) affected the levels of cellular HUFA and prostaglandin production. Indole
acroyl glycine (IAG), a metabolite of IAA excreted in urine, is found in high
concentrations in patients with neurodevelopmental disorders including ASD,
ADHD, dyslexia, Asperger's syndrome and obsessive compulsive disorder.
Bello, S. C. (2007). "Autism and environmental influences: review and commentary."
Rev Environ Health 22(2): 139-56.
Progress has been slow in identifying pre- and post-natal environmental
exposures that might trigger the features that characterize autism. During the
past thirty years, research in the field of autism has been conducted in a setting
in which diagnostic criteria for this condition have changed and broadened, and
differences of opinion regarding diagnostic issues and diagnostic terminology
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