Establishment of diagnostic marker and elucidation of fatty acid metabolism abnormality in autism by serum metabolome analysis

2015 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 25461762
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: Psychiatric science
• Research Institution: Hamamatsu University School of Medicine
• Principal Investigator: takagai shu 浜松医科大学, 子どものこころの発達研究センター, 准教授 (10447807)
• Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha): Matsuzaki Hideo 福井大学, 子どものこころの発達研究センター, 教授 (00334970) ; Tsuchiya Kenji 浜松医科大学, 子どものこころの発達研究センター, 准教授 (20362189)
• Co-Investigator(Renkei-kenkyūsha): Tsujii Masatsugu 中京大学, 現代社会学部, 教授 (20257546) ; Sugiyama Toshirou 浜松医科大学, 医学部, 教授 (60216348) ; Mashima Kazushi 大阪大学, 基礎工学研究科, 教授 (70159143)
• Project Period (FY): 2013-04-01 – 2016-03-31
• Keywords: 自閉症 / メタボローム / 早期診断 / 脂質代謝

Outline of Final Research Achievements

In order to clarify the mechanism of VLDL down-regulation in autism spectrum disorder (ASD), we carried out measurements of free metabolite in plasma of children with ASD and examined correlation between VLDL triglyceride and the metabolites detected. By TOF-MS analysis, a total of 258 metabolites were detected in the serum of all set. Of these, 83 metabolites showed significantly different relative areas between the ASD children and the controls. The present study identified deviated serum metabolite levels associated with oxidative stress and mitochondrial dysfunction in children with ASD. More, we found significant correlation between VLDL triglyceride decrease and 20 metabolites change in the ASD participants. These results suggested that VLDL-specific lipolysis due to aberrant β-activation of fatty acid via oxidative stress and mitochondrial dysfunction may cause VLDL triglyceride decrease in serum of school-aged children with ASD.

Free Research Field

精神医学