NCT02712853

Improving Autism Screening With Brain-Related miRNA

• Status: Completed
• Phase: —
• Study type: Observational
• Enrollment: 304 (actual)
• Sponsor: Milton S. Hershey Medical Center · Academic / Other
• Sex: All
• Age: 18 Months – 6 Years
• Healthy volunteers: Accepted

Summary

The goal of this project is to identify specific miRNAs that are increased or decreased in the saliva of children with developmental delay and are useful for screening toddlers for ASD. Such a screening tool would improve the specificity of diagnosis, streamline referrals to developmental specialists, and expedite the arrangement of early intervention services.

Detailed description

The central aim of this project is to characterize the expression of exosomal microRNA (miRNA) in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Currently, the CDC estimates the prevalence of ASD in U.S. children to be 1 in 68. Yet, the biological causes, diagnosis, and treatment of this disease remain ambiguous. Growing evidence implicates a genetic role in ASD. miRNAs regulate genetic expression and are altered in lymphocytes, neurons and serum of patients with ASD. Recent studies of miRNAs have shown that they can be packaged into exosomal vessels and extruded from neurons as extracellular signaling tools. This knowledge provides a novel approach for examining the genetic regulation of the central nervous system. We propose to measure the expression of extracellular miRNA in children with ASD. Expression levels of miRNA from blood and saliva will be compared between children with autism and normally developing controls. The goal of this study will be to identify genetic regulatory mechanisms involved in ASD and provide potential biomarkers for diagnostic screening. The primary endpoints of this study are as follows: 1. Characterization of brain-related miRNA in the saliva of children with ASD and typically developing control children between the ages of two and five years. 2. Identification of sets of miRNAs in saliva and plasma that are predictive of both ASD diagnosis and severity of ASD symptoms. This aim will enroll ASD and control children age 12-24 months (inclusive). Secondary endpoints include the identification of miRNA expression patterns that correlate with ASD symptom severity measured with standardized neuropsychologic testing and to characterize parental knowledge and attitudes towards epigenetic testing in the context of ASD..

Conditions

• Autism Spectrum Disorder
• Developmental Delay

Interventions

Type	Name	Description
OTHER	Saliva collection	Collection of saliva via swab for miRNA processing
OTHER	Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scale-II Assessment

Timeline

• Start date: 2015-11-01
• Primary completion: 2018-08-01
• Completion: 2018-08-01
• First posted: 2016-03-18
• Last updated: 2018-08-22

Locations

1 site across 1 country: United States