title: Hyperserotonemia in adults with autistic disorder.
abstract: Hyperserotonemia is the most consistent serotonin-related finding in autism. The basis of this phenomenon, and its relationship to the central serotonergic dysfunction remains unclear. Platelet serotonin level (PSL) in 53 autistic adults and 45 healthy controls was measured. Mean PSL in autistic group (75.7 +/- 37.4 ng/microL) was significantly higher than the control sample (59.2 +/- 16.2 ng/microL) due to a presence of hyperserotonemic subjects which comprised 32% of the patients. PSL of autistic subjects did not correlate with the severity of symptoms, as measured by total CARS score, or the degree of mental retardation. However, significant negative relationship was observed between PSL and speech development, indicating the relationship between the peripheral 5HT concentrations and verbal abilities in autistic subjects.
authors.affiliation: Department of Animal Physiology, Faculty of Science, University of Zagreb, Rooseveltov trg 6, 10 000 Zagreb, Croatia. dubravka@zg.biol.pmf.hr
authors.forename: Dubravka
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Hranilovic
authors.forename: Zorana
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Bujas-Petkovic
authors.forename: Renata
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Vragovic
authors.forename: Tomislav
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Vuk
authors.forename: Karlo
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Hock
authors.forename: Branimir
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Jernej
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001321:Autistic Disorder / Q000097:blood* / Q000175:diagnosis; D001792:Blood Platelets / Q000378:metabolism; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008607:Intellectual Disability / Q000097:blood / Q000175:diagnosis; D007805:Language Development Disorders / Q000097:blood; D008297:Male; D012016:Reference Values; D012701:Serotonin / Q000097:blood*; D013064:Speech Disorders / Q000097:blood / Q000175:diagnosis; D013223:Statistics as Topic; D014705:Verbal Behavior / Q000502:physiology
chemical_list: D012701:Serotonin