In Search of Biomarkers for Autism Spectrum Disorder.
Marta Del Valle Rubido, James T McCracken, Eric Hollander and 7 others
PMID 30324656WHAT IT FOUND
In 38 high-functioning men with autism, no single measure stood out as a ready-made biomarker for social communication.
SCIT, ASR, RMET and smell tests related to clinician ratings, but most links were modest and varied by test.
Key findings
01Higher scores on the Social Communication Interaction Test (SCIT) were associated with lower ADOS total, communication, reciprocal social interaction, and combined communication and social interaction scores, and with lower CGI-Severity scores.
02Better scores on the Affective Speech Recognition test (ASR) were associated with higher Vineland communication, summary, and adaptive composite scores, and with lower ABC stereotypic behavior and inappropriate speech scores.
03Eye-tracking measures had modest associations with ADOS domains, but the composite eye-tracking score was not significantly related to ADOS measures.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for SLPs
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What it does not show
The study included only 38 high-functioning men aged 18 to 40 years, so the results do not show how these measures would work in women or lower-functioning adults. Study 2 participants had to score 13 or lower on ABC irritability and undergo a 2-hour intravenous infusion, and they had lower anxiety scores than Study 1 participants (STAI total score: Study 1 = 44.8 vs Study 2 = 32.6; P = 0.004; ES = 1.0). Concomitant medications were allowed if stable, but previous treatment history was not controlled. Some eye-tracking tasks used videos of children playing, which may not be engaging or appropriate for adults. Test-retest reliability was measured over a short period, so the reliability estimates may be too favorable. Many correlations were tested, and only some survived strict correction for multiple comparisons. The paper did not test whether these measures can detect treatment change or predict response to therapy.
Declared interests
Several authors were full-time employees of F. Other authors reported consulting, research grants, or research funding involving Roche, Janssen Pharmaceutical, Curemark, Coronado Biosciences, Forest, Simons Foundation, Foundation for Prader Willi Research, the Orphan Products Division of the Food and Drug Administration, and study drug from Shire and AstraZeneca. One author has intellectual property relating to oxytocin and autism.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that these tests diagnose autism, guide treatment, or measure therapy progress. They were compared with existing ratings in 38 high-functioning adult men, and the healthy control arm from one study was not included in this analysis.