Associations of serum elements and amino acids with autism spectrum disorder

Accumulating evidence suggests that serum elements and amino acids are associated with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). However, the conclusions are not exactly consistent. The objective of our study is to investigate the association of serum elements and amino acids with ASD children, and particularly whether there is effect modifiers. A total of 64 children including 34 children with ASD and 30 age- and sex-matched healthy controls (HC) were enrolled in Beijing, China. Twenty-six serum elements and nineteen amino acids were analyzed by inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometer, inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometer, and amino acid analyzer, respectively. The results indicated that ten elements [copper(Cu), rubidium(Rb), Cesium(Cs), molybdenum(Mo), zinc(Zn), antimony(Sb), aluminum(Al), strontium(Sr), nickel(Ni), vanadium(V)] and two amino acids [phenylalanine(Phe), taurine(Tau)] were significantly lower (p < 0.05), whereas citrulline(Cit), methionine(Met) levels were significantly higher (p < 0.05) in ASD group than healthy controls, after adjusting for the potential confounders. In addition, there were significant interaction effects ( p for interaction < 0.05) of serum elements and amino acids on ASD, such as Zn and Cit, Cu and Phe, V and Met. The findings indicate that metabolic disturbances of various elements and amino acids, especially reduced serum Zn and Tau that related to severe oxidative stress might be associated with increased risk of ASD. Our findings support the feasibility of using the element-amino complexes supplement to some extent, which may pioneer a new pathway for treatment and prevention of ASD.