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Query: UMLS:C0004352 (autism)
 32,579 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Urinary catecholamines (DA, NE, E) and their main metabolites (HVA, DOPAC, MHPG) were analyzed both as free and conjugates in eight children diagnosed as autistic according to DSM-III criteria and eight normal children. Significant differences appeared for the urinary excretion of both DA and NE and their respective metabolites: Autistic children showed low DA, high HVA, high NE, low MHPG urinary levels. These results are consistent with previous findings on altered catecholamine metabolism in autistic children. They suggest that autistic behaviors might be related to an abnormal functional imbalance among monoamines either at a molecular level or at a system level. Furthermore, they emphasize the special interest of urinary assays in pediatric research.
J Autism Dev Disord 1988 Dec
PMID:Urinary free and conjugated catecholamines and metabolites in autistic children. 321 84

In a group of 22 autistic children aged 5 to 16 years and a group of normal controls matched for age and sex, catecholamines metabolism was investigated in plasma, platelets, and urine. This investigation was part of a research project in which several biological parameters (including serotonin) were explored simultaneously in the same children. In the autistic group, epinephrine and norepinephrine were significantly elevated in plasma, while epinephrin, norepinephrine, and dopamine were significantly lower in isolated platelets. No significant difference was found between the two groups for the urinary excretion of epinephrine, norepinephrine, dopamine, DOPAC, and MHPG. Other differences between the two groups in the statistical correlations of several biochemical parameters also suggest abnormalities of bioamine metabolism in the platelets of autistic children.
J Autism Dev Disord 1987 Sep
PMID:Catecholamines metabolism in infantile autism: a controlled study of 22 autistic children. 365 86

Low serotonin activity in man has been related to impulsive, self-destructive violence but not to instrumental aggression aimed at dominance. A relationship has also been suggested between aggression and high catecholaminergic activity. Several studies have reported signs of aberrant dopaminergic function in attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, autism, and schizophrenia. In 22 violent offenders undergoing pretrial forensic psychiatric investigation, interpersonal and behavioral features of psychopathy, measured by the Psychopathy Checklist Revised (PCL-R), were significantly predicted by low cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) concentrations of 5-HIAA and high CSF concentrations of HVA in multivariate regression models. CSF concentrations of MHPG did not contribute to the model. This seems to link the outward-directed aggression of psychopathy to serotonergic hypofunctioning and high dopamine turnover, which might account for disinhibition of destructive impulses.
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PMID:CSF studies in violent offenders. I. 5-HIAA as a negative and HVA as a positive predictor of psychopathy. 1151 52

Children with Asperger and Kanner syndromes in the stable state demonstrate similar decrease in plasma norepinephrine. In the aggravated state, these changes become more expressed and are characterized by a decrease in plasma tyrosine, norepinephrine, normetanephrine and by an increase in dopamine and homovanylic acid and a decrease in excretion of norepinephrine and an increase in excretion of homovanylic acid, epinephrine and MHPG. Only in children with Kanner syndrome in the aggravated state plasma MHPG increases, excretion of tyrosine decreases and excretion of normetanephrine increases. The observed imbalance in dopamine and epinephrine/norepinephrine systems justifies combined analysis of changes in catecholamines and their metabolites levels as the most informative approach in the study of the effect of autistic disorders.
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PMID:[Catecholamines and their metabolites in children with Asperger and Kanner syndromes]. 2262 7