High resolution metabolomic analysis of ASD human brain uncovers novel biomarkers of disease

Introduction Autism spectrum disorders (ASD) is a group of neurodevelopmental disorders believed to have a multifactorial basis. Presently, diagnosis is based on behavioral and developmental signs in children before the age of 3 and no reliable clinical biomarkers are available for early detection. Objectives This study aimed to biochemically profile the cerebellum from post-mortem human brain from ASD sufferers (n = 11) and compare their profiles to that of age-matched controls (n = 11) with no known brain disorder. Methods Using liquid chromatography combined with LTQ-Orbitrap mass spectrometry we detected 14,328 features in ESI+ mode in polar extracts of post-mortem brain. Results Of these only 37 were found to be statistically significantly different between ASD and controls (p < 0.05; fdr <0.05). A panel of four features had a predictive power of 96.64 %, following statistical cross validation, for ASD detection. This model produced an AUC = 0.874 (CI 0.768-0.944) and a Fisher's exact score of p = 4.50E-29. Conclusion Whilst at this time we were unable to chemically identify the four features of interest we believe that this study underscores the potential value of high resolution metabolomics for the study of ASD. Further characterization of the polar metabolome of post mortem ASD brains could lead to the identification of potential biomarkers and novel therapeutics for the disease. The development of accurate biomarkers could assist in the early detection of ASD and promote early intervention strategies to improve outcome.