title: Reduction in retinal nerve fiber layer thickness in young adults with autism spectrum disorders.
abstract: Recent years have seen an increase in the use of retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL) evaluation as an easy-to-use, reproducible, proxy-measure of brain structural abnormalities. Here, we evaluated RNFL thickness in a group of subjects with high functioning autism (HFA) or with Asperger Syndrome (AS) to its potential as a tool to study autism pathophysiology. All subjects underwent high-resolution spectral domain optical coherence tomography to evaluate RNFL thickness. HFA subjects presented with reduced global RNFL thickness compared both to AS subjects and controls. AS subjects showed a reduced nasal quadrant RNFL thickness compared to controls. Verbal-IQ/performance-IQ discrepancy correlated with RNFL thickness. Our data suggest that RNFL evaluation could help in the development of biological markers of autism pathophysiology.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedicine and Prevention, University of Rome "Tor Vergata", Via Montpellier 1, 00133, Rome, Italy, leonardo.emberti.gialloreti@uniroma2.it.
authors.forename: Leonardo
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Emberti Gialloreti
authors.forename: Matteo
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Pardini
authors.forename: Francesca
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Benassi
authors.forename: Sara
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Marciano
authors.forename: Mario
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Amore
authors.forename: Maria Giulia
authors.initials: MG
authors.lastname: Mutolo
authors.forename: Maria Cristina
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Porfirio
authors.forename: Paolo
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Curatolo
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D002659:Child Development Disorders, Pervasive / Q000473:pathology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009412:Nerve Fibers / Q000473:pathology*; D012165:Retinal Ganglion Cells / Q000473:pathology*; D041623:Tomography, Optical Coherence; D055815:Young Adult