PET/MRI reveals sex differences in patients with autism

PET/MRI shows that young women with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) have increased brain metabolism associated with translocator protein (TSPO), a group from Harvard University in Boston has reported. In a pilot study, the researchers showed that women with autism have higher uptake of carbon-11 (C-11) PBR28 radiotracer -- which binds to TSPO -- on brain PET/MRI than those without the condition. The finding adds to current scarce knowledge about molecular markers in these patients, noted lead author Chieh-En Jane Tseng, PhD, and colleagues. “Over 90% of neuroimaging studies in ASD in the last 20 years only studied males or did not study sex effects if females were included. As a result, our understanding of neurobiology in females with ASD is particularly lacking,” the group wrote. The study was published April 13 in Neuropsychopharmacology. Sex-based differences in the prevalence of ASD are well-documented, with a male-to-female ratio of approximately four to one, the authors explained. TSPO is a mitochondrial protein expressed in numerous cells including microglia, astrocytes, and neurons and is being investigated as a potential marker for neuroinflammation in certain diseases, including ASD. Previous PET studies by the group suggest that men with ASD have a lower density of several mitochondrial proteins compared to healthy controls, yet to date, TSPO levels have not been investigated specifically in women with ASD, the researchers wrote. To address the knowledge g...
Source: AuntMinnie.com Headlines - Category: Radiology Authors: Tags: Molecular Imaging Source Type: news