Treating Oxidative Stress and the Metabolic Pathology of Autism

Hypothesis and Specific Aims Hypothesis: A significant proportion of autistic children have impaired methylation and antioxidant/detoxification capacity resulting in chronic oxidative stress. Targeted nutritional intervention that is designed to correct the metabolic imbalance will significantly improve their metabolic profile and improve measures of autistic behavior.

If proven correct, this hypothesis could generate specific biomarkers to define individual behavioral phenotypes within the autism spectrum and indicate targeted treatment options to reduce and possibly prevent the clinical and behavioral manifestations of autism.

Specific Aim 1. To screen children with a diagnosis of autism for evidence of impaired methylation (↓SAM/SAH) and impaired antioxidant capacity (↓GSH/GSSG)

Specific Aim 2. Children who exhibit evidence of impaired methylation and antioxidant capacity will be randomized into a double blind placebo-controlled parallel group trial of targeted nutritional intervention designed to correct metabolic deficiencies and imbalance and to improve scores on standardized behavioral evaluation tests.

The two specific aims (Study Phase 1 and 2 respectively) are designed to increase the understanding of the metabolic factors that contribute to development and clinical manifestations of autism. We anticipate that the knowledge gained from the successful achievement of our aims will provide an important new metabolic dimension to early diagnosis and clinical management of autistic children.