This 2016 New York human study found:
“Measurement of salivary miRNA in this pilot study of subjects with mild ASD [autism spectrum disorder] demonstrated differential expression of 14 miRNAs that are:
Some problems with current diagnostic methods for autism are:
“The first sign of ASD commonly recognized by pediatricians is a deficit in communication and language that does not manifest until 18–24 months of age.
The mean age of diagnosis for children with ASD is 3 years, and approximately half of these are false-positives.
Despite a substantial genetic component, no single gene variant accounts for >1 % of ASD incidence.
Nearly 2000 individual genes have been implicated in ASD, but none are specific to the disorder.”
Study limitations included:
“Aside from the sample size and cross-sectional nature of this pilot study, another limitation is the age of ASD and control subjects it describes (4–14 years) which are not representative of the target population in which ASD biomarkers would ideally be utilized (0–2 years). However, selecting a homogenous group of subjects with mild ASD (as measured by ADOS) that was well-established and diagnosed by a developmental specialist requires subjects with long-standing diagnoses.”
Understanding later-life consequences of disrupted neurodevelopment is critical for tracing symptoms back to their causes, as noted in Grokking an Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) score. I wonder how long it will take for researchers in other fields to stop wasting resources and do what this study did: focus on epigenetic biomarkers that have developmental origins.
http://bmcpediatr.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12887-016-0586-x “Salivary miRNA profiles identify children with autism spectrum disorder, correlate with adaptive behavior, and implicate ASD candidate genes involved in neurodevelopment”
Surface Your Real Self 