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Serotonin and amino acid content in platelets of autistic children
L H Rolf1, F Y Haarmann, K H Grotemeyer
1Department of Neurology, University of Münster, Germany.
Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica
|May 1, 1993
Abstract:
The platelet levels of serotonin and the amino acids aspartic acid, glutamine, glutamic acid and gamma-aminobutyric acid were measured in 18 drug-free autistic (DSM-III criteria) and 14 age-matched healthy children. Serotonin was significantly increased while the amino acids aspartic acid, glutamine, glutamic acid and gamma-aminobutyric acid were significantly decreased in comparison with the controls. It is suggested that the decline of the amino acids in platelets from autistic children represents a biochemical marker related to infantile autism.