Preliminary results from a biological test on children with autism spectrum disorder found differing chemical levels in their blood and urine than those without the syndrome, although doctors say the results need to be replicated among a larger sample size.
The research was undertaken by British and Italian scientists and their results were published Monday in the Molecular Autism journal, the BBC reported.
In the research, the scientists evaluated 38 children with autism and 31 children without.
“We have the method, we have everything. All we need to do is repeat it,” said Dr. Naila Rabbani of the University of Warwick, who co-authored the study, the BBC reported.
“I would really like to go forward with younger children, maybe two years, or even one year old,” she said. “Then the next step will be to validate in a larger cohort. Then the tests will be ready for screening.”
• Laura Kelly can be reached at lkelly@washingtontimes.com.
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