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Medial Frontal Lobe Neurochemistry in Autism Spectrum Disorder is Marked by Reduced N-Acetylaspartate and Unchanged Gamma-Aminobutyric Acid and Glutamate + Glutamine Levels.

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Affiliations

  • 1. Institute for Biomedical Imaging and Life Sciences (CNC.IBILI), Faculty of Medicine, University of Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal.
      Authors
    • Carvalho Pereira A 1
    • Violante IR 1
    • Mouga S 1
    • Oliveira G 1
    • Castelo-Branco M 1
    (5 authors)

ORCIDs linked to this article

Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 01 May 2018, 48(5):1467-1482
https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-017-3406-8 PMID: 29177616 

Abstract 

The nature of neurochemical changes in autism spectrum disorder (ASD) remains controversial. We compared medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) neurochemistry of twenty high-functioning children and adolescents with ASD without associated comorbidities and fourteen controls. We observed reduced total N-acetylaspartate (tNAA) and total creatine, increased Glx/tNAA but unchanged glutamate + glutamine (Glx) and unchanged absolute or relative gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA+) in the ASD group. Importantly, both smaller absolute and relative GABA+ levels were associated with worse communication skills and developmental delay scores assessed by the autism diagnostic interview-revised (ADI-R). We conclude that tNAA is reduced in the mPFC in ASD and that glutamatergic metabolism may be altered due to unbalanced Glx/tNAA. Moreover, GABA+ is related to autistic symptoms assessed by the ADI-R.

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Funding 

Funders who supported this work.

Fundação Luso-Americana para o Desenvolvimento (1)

Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (5)

Wellcome Trust (1)