A better early blood test for autism Genetic signatures point to
disrupted neuro-immune pathways BOSTON, Dec. 5, 2012
/PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — Researchers at Boston Children’s
Hospital have developed a blood test for autism spectrum
disorders (ASDs) that outperforms existing genetic tests, while
presenting evidence that abnormal immunologic activity affecting
brain development may help explain some of autism’s origins. The
findings also suggest a new direction for genetic research on
autism and the search for treatments. The blood test, described
December 5 in the online open access journal PLOS ONE and based
on the largest gene-chip investigation ever done in autism,
could enable early diagnosis of autism in about two thirds of
patients before clear symptoms start to appear (the average age
of diagnosis in the U.S. is 5 years). Researchers led by Sek Won
Kong, MD, of the Boston Children’s Hospital Informatics Program
(CHIP) analyzed blood samples from 66 male patients with ASDs
(from Boston Children’s and s