Table 2.
Most cited biomarkers: interventional studies
| BM | Reference | Modality | Study Design | Intervention | Sample size [drug/placebo] |
Age (years) |
Biomarker outcome |
ASD Behavior measures |
Behavioral improvement |
Biomarker x Behavior Correlation* |
PMID |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Glutathione (GSH) | Bertoglio et al., 2010 | Plasma | RDBPC, crossover | Methyl B12 | 30/0 | 3-8 | Not different | AbBC, CARS, CBCL, PIA-CV | No | Not tested | 20804367 |
| Al-Ayadhi et al., 2013 | Plasma | RDBPC | Camel milk | 49/11 | 2-12 | Post > Pre | CARS, WSQ | Yes | Not tested | 24069051 | |
| Faber et al., 2015 | Plasma | Open-label | Cleanroom | 10/0 | 3-12 | Not stated | ATEC, CARS, GARS-2, PDDBI | No | Not tested | 25887094 | |
| Wink et al., 2016 | Plasma | RDBPC | N-acetylcysteine | 16/15 | 4-12 | Post > Pre | SRS, VABS | No | Not tested | 27103982 | |
| IL-6 | Tsilioni et al., 2015 | Serum | Open-label | Diet | 40/0 | 4-10 | Pre > Post | VABS | Yes | Yes | 26418275 |
| Melamed et al., 2018 | Blood | Open-label | Immunoglobulin, intravenous | 17/0 | 4-14 | Not different | ADOS, SRS | Yes | Not tested | 29427532 | |
| BDNF | Makkonen et al., 2011 | CSF | Open-label | Fluoxetine | 13/0 | 5-16 | Pre > Post | ATEC | Yes | Not tested | 29056860 |
| Pardo et al., 2013 | CSF, plasma | Open-label | Minocycline | 11/0 | 3-5 | Pre > Post | CGI-anchored, VABS | No | Not tested | 23566357 | |
| Hellings et al., 2015 | Serum | Open-label | Loxapine | 16/0 | 13-65 | Post > Pre | RBS-R | Yes | Not tested | 25782098 | |
| Serotonin | Bent et al., 2018 | Urine | Open-label | Sulforaphane | 21/0 | 5-22 | Not stated | AbBC, SRS | Yes | Yes | 29854372 |
| GABA | Connery et al., 2018 | Plasma | Open-label | Immunoglobulin, intravenous | 31/0 | 9.7 (4.4) | Not different | AbBC, SRS | Yes | Not tested | 30097568 |
| Oxytocin | Andari et al., 2010 | Plasma | RDBPC, cross-over | Oxytocin, intranasal | 33/0 | 17-39 | Post > Pre | Social behavior | Yes | Not tested | 20160081 |
| Parker et al., 2017 | Plasma | RDBPC | Oxytocin, intranasal | 32/0 | 6-12 | Not stated | SRS | Yes | Yes | 28696286 | |
| Alpha power | Kang et al., 2019 | EEG (resting state) | Open-label | rTMS treatment | 16/16 | 7.8 (2.1) | Post > Pre | AuBC | Yes | Not tested | 31228356 |
| Murias et al., 2018 | EEG (social vs non-social) | Open-label | Autologous umbilical cord blood | 25/0 | 2-6 | Post > Pre | VABS | Yes | Yes | 30070044 | |
| Fixation time (proportional looking times) | Bradshaw et al., 2019 | Eyes, mouth, face; social vs nonsocial | Pilot, randomized | PRISM | 12/11 | 1.5-4 | Not different | ADOS, VABS | No | No | 30891960 |
| Umbricht et al., 2017 | Social vs non-social | RDBPC, cross-over | V1a receptor antagonist, intravenous | 19/0 | 18-45 | Post > Pre (social) | ASR, RMET, SCIT, AbBC reduced | Yes | Not tested | 27711048 | |
| Andari et al., 2010 | Mouth, eyes, face | RDBPC, cross-over | Oxytocin, intranasal | 20/0 | 17-39 | Post > Pre | Social behavior | Yes | Yes | 20160081 | |
| Fractional Anisotropy | Carpenter et al., 2019 | DTI | Open-label | Autologous umbilical cord blood | 19/0 | 2-6 | Post > Pre | VABS | Yes | Yes | 30620122 |
| Functional activation (after biological motion) | Ventola et al., 2015 | Whole-brain | Other CT | PRT | 15/0 | 4.5-7.7 | Post > Pre (in one of 2 groups) | ADOS, SRS-2 | Yes | Yes | 25370452 |
| Yang et al., 2016 | Whole-brain | Open-label | PRT | 20/0 | 5.90 (1.07) | Not stated | SRS | Yes | Yes | 27845779 | |
| Yang et al., 2017 | Whole-brain | Pilot | VR-SCT | 17/0 | 18-31 | Not stated | ACS-SP, SAT | Yes | Yes | 28384509 |
correlation was not tested, the authors looked for the association of severity of symptoms in relation to the biomarker under study
proportional looking times; AbBC = Aberrant Behavior Checklist; ADOS = Autism Diagnostic Observation Scale; ARS = Affective Speech Recognition; ASD = Autism Spectrum Disorder; ATEC = Autism Treatment Evaluation Checklist; ACS= WMS-IV Social Perception Subtest; AuBC = Autism Behavior Checklist; BASC = Behavior Assessment System for Children; BDNF = Brain-derived neurotrophic factor; BM = Biomarker; CARS = Childhood Autism Rating Scale; CBCL = Child Behavior Checklist; CGI = Clinical Global Impression; CSF = cerebrospinal fluid; DTI = Diffusion Tensor Imaging; EEG = Electroencephalogram; FU = Follow-up after treatment; GABA = Gamma aminobutyric acid; GARS-2 = Gilliam Autism Rating Scale-2; GSH = Glutathione; IL-6 = Interleukin-6; Other CT = Other Clinical Trial; PDDBI = Pervasive Developmental Disorder Behavior Inventory; PIA-CV = Parent Interview for Autism-Clinical Version; PMID = PubMed reference number; PRISM = Pivotal Response Intervention for Social Motivation; PRT= Pivotal Response Treatment; RBS-R = Repetitive Behavior Scale-Revised; RDBPC = Randomized double-blind placebo-controlled; RMET = Reading the Mind in the Eyes Test; rTMS = Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation; SAT= Social Attribution Task; SCIT = Scripted Communication and Interaction Test; SRS = Social Responsiveness Scale; VABS = Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales; VR-SCT= Virtual reality Social Cognition treatment; WSQ = Wing Subgroups Questionnaire.