Salivary miRNA profiles identify children with autism spectrum disorder, correlate with adaptive behavior, and implicate ASD candidate genes involved in neurodevelopment.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a common neurodevelopmental disorder that lacks adequate screening tools, often delaying diagnosis and therapeutic interventions. Despite a substantial genetic component, no single gene variant accounts for >1 % of ASD incidence. Epigenetic mechanisms that include microRNAs (miRNAs) may contribute to the ASD phenotype by altering networks of neurodevelopmental genes. The extracellular availability of miRNAs allows for painless, noninvasive collection from biofluids. In this study, we investigated the potential for saliva-based miRNAs to serve as diagnostic screening tools and evaluated their potential functional importance.

Methods

Salivary miRNA was purified from 24 ASD subjects and 21 age- and gender-matched control subjects. Th

SUBMITTER: Hicks SD 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4841962 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature