Table 1.

Mean ± S.D of plasma levels of acetic, valeric, hexanoic and stearidonic saturated fatty acids in autistic patients compared to age- matching controls

Fatty acid	Group	N	Mean ± S.D.	Percentage change	P value
Acetic	Control	26	0.558 ± 0.082	100.00	0.000
	Autistic	26	0.972 ± 0.247	174.14
Valeric	Control	26	0.100 ± 0.015	100.00	0.000
	Autistic	26	0.510 ± 0.229	509.27
Hexanoic	Control	26	0.597 ± 0.478	100.00	0.000
	Autistic	26	1.442 ± 0.349	241.65
Stearidonic	Control	26	0.363 ± 0.122	100.00	0.009
	Autistic	26	0.455 ± 0.120	125.17

This table describes the independent t-test between the control and autistic groups regarding levels of acetic, valeric, hexanoic and stearidonic acids expressed in mmol/L plasma. Significant level at p < 0.001