title: Toxicological status of children with autism vs. neurotypical children and the association with autism severity.
abstract: This study investigates both the level of toxic metals in children with autism and the possible association of those toxic metals with autism severity. This study involved 55 children with autism ages 5-16 years compared to 44 controls with similar age and gender. The study included measurements of toxic metals in whole blood, red blood cells (RBC), and urine. The autism group had higher levels of lead in RBC (+41 %, p = 0.002) and higher urinary levels of lead (+74 %, p = 0.02), thallium (+77 %, p = 0.0001), tin (+115 %, p = 0.01), and tungsten (+44 %, p = 0.00005). However, the autism group had slightly lower levels of cadmium in whole blood (-19 %, p = 0.003). A stepwise, multiple linear regression analysis found a strong association of levels of toxic metals with variation in the degree of severity of autism for all the severity scales (adjusted R(2) of 0.38-0.47, p < 0.0003). Cadmium (whole blood) and mercury (whole blood and RBC) were the most consistently significant variables. Overall, children with autism have higher average levels of several toxic metals, and levels of several toxic metals are strongly associated with variations in the severity of autism for all three of the autism severity scales investigated.
authors.affiliation: Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85287-6006, USA. jim.adams@asu.edu
authors.forename: James B
authors.initials: JB
authors.lastname: Adams
authors.forename: Tapan
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Audhya
authors.forename: Sharon
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: McDonough-Means
authors.forename: Robert A
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Rubin
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Quig
authors.forename: Elizabeth
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Geis
authors.forename: Eva
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Gehn
authors.forename: Melissa
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Loresto
authors.forename: Jessica
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Mitchell
authors.forename: Sharon
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Atwood
authors.forename: Suzanne
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Barnhouse
authors.forename: Wondra
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Lee
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D001151:Arsenic / Q000097:blood / Q000652:urine; D001321:Autistic Disorder / Q000097:blood / Q000473:pathology* / Q000652:urine; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000097:blood / Q000652:urine; D002104:Cadmium / Q000097:blood* / Q000652:urine; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004912:Erythrocytes / Q000737:chemistry; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007854:Lead / Q000097:blood* / Q000652:urine*; D057230:Limit of Detection; D016014:Linear Models; D008297:Male; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D013793:Thallium / Q000652:urine; D014001:Tin / Q000652:urine; D014414:Tungsten / Q000652:urine
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers; D002104:Cadmium; D007854:Lead; D014001:Tin; D013793:Thallium; D001151:Arsenic; D014414:Tungsten