title: A proton spectroscopy study of white matter in children with autism.
abstract: White matter abnormalities have been described in autism spectrum disorder (ASD) with mounting evidence implicating these alterations in the pathophysiology of the aberrant connectivity reported in this disorder. The goal of this investigation is to further examine white matter structure in ASD using proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy ((1)H MRS). Multi-voxel, short echo-time in vivo(1)H MRS data were collected from 17 male children with ASD and 17 healthy age- and gender-matched controls. Key (1)H MRS metabolite ratios relative to phosphocreatine plus creatine were obtained from four different right and left white matter regions. Significantly lower N-acetylaspartate/creatine ratios were found in the anterior white matter regions of the ASD group when compared to controls. These findings reflect impairment in neuroaxonal white matter tissue and shed light on the neurobiologic underpinnings of white matter abnormalities in ASD by implicating an alteration in myelin and/or axonal development in this disorder.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA. Electronic address: hardanay@stanford.edu.
authors.forename: Antonio Y
authors.initials: AY
authors.lastname: Hardan
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA.
authors.forename: Lawrence K
authors.initials: LK
authors.lastname: Fung
authors.affiliation: Center for Autism, Pediatric Institute, Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, OH, USA; Center for Pediatric Behavioral Health, Pediatric Institute, Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, OH, USA.
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Frazier
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA.
authors.forename: Sean W
authors.initials: SW
authors.lastname: Berquist
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA.
authors.forename: Nancy J
authors.initials: NJ
authors.lastname: Minshew
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Beth Israel and Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
authors.forename: Matcheri S
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Keshavan
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neurosciences, Wayne State University School of Medicine, Detroit, MI, USA.
authors.forename: Jeffrey A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Stanley
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D001224:Aspartic Acid / Q000031:analogs & derivatives / Q000378:metabolism; D000067877:Autism Spectrum Disorder / Q000378:metabolism*; D002648:Child; D003401:Creatine / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D009682:Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy; D008297:Male; D066127:White Matter / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D001224:Aspartic Acid; C000179:N-acetylaspartate; D003401:Creatine
keywords: Connectivity; In vivo(1)H MRS; N-acetylaspartate (NAA); Phosphocreatine plus creatine