TY - JOUR
T1 - Cerebral [18 f]-fdopa uptake in autism spectrum disorder and its association with autistic traits
AU - Schalbroeck, Rik
AU - de Geus-Oei, Lioe-Fee
AU - Selten, Jean-Paul
AU - Yaqub, Maqsood
AU - Schrantee, Anouk
AU - van Amelsvoort, Therese
AU - Booij, Jan
AU - van Velden, Floris H. P.
N1 - Funding Information: Funding: The study was funded in part by Stichting J.M.C. Kapteinfonds. Publisher Copyright: © 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.
PY - 2021/12/1
Y1 - 2021/12/1
N2 - Dopaminergic signaling is believed to be related to autistic traits. We conducted an exploratory 3,4-dihydroxy-6-[18F]-fluoro-L-phenylalanine positron emission tomography/computed tomography ([18F]-FDOPA PET/CT) study, to examine cerebral [18F]-FDOPA influx constant (kicer min−1), reflecting pre-dominantly striatal dopamine synthesis capacity and a mixed monoaminergic innervation in extrastriatal neurons, in 44 adults diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and 22 controls, aged 18 to 30 years. Autistic traits were assessed with the Autism Spectrum Quotient (AQ). Region-of-interest and voxel-based analyses showed no statistically significant differences in kicer between autistic adults and controls. In autistic adults, striatal kicer was significantly, negatively associated with AQ attention to detail subscale scores, although Bayesian analyses did not support this finding. In conclusion, among autistic adults, specific autistic traits can be associated with reduced striatal dopamine synthesis capacity. How-ever, replication of this finding is necessary.
AB - Dopaminergic signaling is believed to be related to autistic traits. We conducted an exploratory 3,4-dihydroxy-6-[18F]-fluoro-L-phenylalanine positron emission tomography/computed tomography ([18F]-FDOPA PET/CT) study, to examine cerebral [18F]-FDOPA influx constant (kicer min−1), reflecting pre-dominantly striatal dopamine synthesis capacity and a mixed monoaminergic innervation in extrastriatal neurons, in 44 adults diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and 22 controls, aged 18 to 30 years. Autistic traits were assessed with the Autism Spectrum Quotient (AQ). Region-of-interest and voxel-based analyses showed no statistically significant differences in kicer between autistic adults and controls. In autistic adults, striatal kicer was significantly, negatively associated with AQ attention to detail subscale scores, although Bayesian analyses did not support this finding. In conclusion, among autistic adults, specific autistic traits can be associated with reduced striatal dopamine synthesis capacity. How-ever, replication of this finding is necessary.
KW - Autism spectrum disorder
KW - Autistic traits
KW - Dopamine
KW - Monoamine
KW - Positron emission tomography
KW - [ F]-FDOPA
KW - [F]-FDOPA
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85121650502&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - https://doi.org/10.3390/diagnostics11122404
DO - https://doi.org/10.3390/diagnostics11122404
M3 - Article
C2 - 34943640
SN - 2075-4418
VL - 11
JO - Diagnostics
JF - Diagnostics
IS - 12
M1 - 2404
ER -