Whole Blood Serotonin Levels and Platelet 5-HT2A Binding in Autism Spectrum Disorder

Elizabeth Aaron; Alicia Montgomery; Xinguo Ren; Stephen Guter; George Anderson; Ana M D Carneiro; Suma Jacob; Matthew Mosconi; Ghanshyam N Pandey; Edwin Cook; Jeremy Veenstra-VanderWeele

doi:10.1007/s10803-019-03989-z

Whole Blood Serotonin Levels and Platelet 5-HT_2A Binding in Autism Spectrum Disorder

J Autism Dev Disord. 2019 Jun;49(6):2417-2425. doi: 10.1007/s10803-019-03989-z.

Authors

Elizabeth Aaron^{1

2

3}, Alicia Montgomery⁴, Xinguo Ren⁵, Stephen Guter⁵, George Anderson⁶, Ana M D Carneiro⁷, Suma Jacob⁸, Matthew Mosconi⁹, Ghanshyam N Pandey⁵, Edwin Cook⁵, Jeremy Veenstra-VanderWeele^{10

11

12}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Psychiatry, Columbia University Medical Center, 1051 Riverside Drive, Mail Unit 78, New York, NY, 10032, USA.
² New York State Psychiatric Institute, 1051 Riverside Drive, New York, NY, 10032, USA.
³ New York-Presbyterian Hospital, Center for Autism and the Developing Brain, 21 Bloomingdale Rd, White Plains, NY, 10605, USA.
⁴ Sydney Children's Hospital, Community Health Center, High Street, Randwick, NSW, 2031, Australia.
⁵ Department of Psychiatry, University of Illinois at Chicago, 1601 W. Taylor Street, Chicago, IL, 60612, USA.
⁶ Child Study Center, Yale University, 230 South Frontage Rd, New Haven, CT, 06519, USA.
⁷ Department of Pharmacology, Vanderbilt Brain Institute, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, 465 21st Avenue South, Nashville, TN, 37232, USA.
⁸ Department of Psychiatry, University of Minnesota, 2450 Riverside Ave, Minneapolis, MN, 55454, USA.
⁹ Dole Human Development Center, University of Kansas, 1000 Sunnyside Avenue, Lawrence, KS, 66045, USA.
¹⁰ Department of Psychiatry, Columbia University Medical Center, 1051 Riverside Drive, Mail Unit 78, New York, NY, 10032, USA. [email protected].
¹¹ New York State Psychiatric Institute, 1051 Riverside Drive, New York, NY, 10032, USA. [email protected].
¹² New York-Presbyterian Hospital, Center for Autism and the Developing Brain, 21 Bloomingdale Rd, White Plains, NY, 10605, USA. [email protected].

Abstract

Elevated whole blood serotonin (WB5-HT) is a well-replicated biomarker in autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Decreased platelet serotonin receptor 5-HT_2A binding has been reported in ASD. WB5-HT levels and platelet 5-HT_2A specific binding were obtained from 110 individuals with ASD and 18 controls. Individuals with ASD had significantly higher WB5-HT levels than controls. There was no difference in the platelet 5-HT_2A specific binding between groups. Multiple regression analyses revealed that platelet 5-HT_2A binding significantly predicted WB5-HT in the control sample but not in the ASD sample. These results indicate that the relationship between WB5-HT and platelet 5-HT_2A binding differs depending on ASD diagnosis, suggesting differences in platelet 5-HT system regulation in ASD.

Keywords: Autism spectrum disorder; Biomarker; Hyperserotonemia; Receptor; Serotonin.

MeSH terms

Autism Spectrum Disorder / blood*
Autism Spectrum Disorder / diagnosis*
Biomarkers / blood
Blood Platelets / metabolism*
Child
Child, Preschool
Female
Humans
Male
Protein Binding / physiology
Receptor, Serotonin, 5-HT2A / blood*
Serotonin / blood*

Substances

Biomarkers
Receptor, Serotonin, 5-HT2A
Serotonin

Abstract

MeSH terms

Substances

Grants and funding