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Whole Blood Serotonin Levels and Platelet 5-HT2A Binding in Autism Spectrum Disorder

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Abstract

Elevated whole blood serotonin (WB5-HT) is a well-replicated biomarker in autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Decreased platelet serotonin receptor 5-HT2A binding has been reported in ASD. WB5-HT levels and platelet 5-HT2A specific binding were obtained from 110 individuals with ASD and 18 controls. Individuals with ASD had significantly higher WB5-HT levels than controls. There was no difference in the platelet 5-HT2A specific binding between groups. Multiple regression analyses revealed that platelet 5-HT2A binding significantly predicted WB5-HT in the control sample but not in the ASD sample. These results indicate that the relationship between WB5-HT and platelet 5-HT2A binding differs depending on ASD diagnosis, suggesting differences in platelet 5-HT system regulation in ASD.

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Acknowledgments

This study was funded by NIH Grants HD055751 (EC), MH094604 (JV), MH016434 (JV), MH106565 (GP), the Simons Foundation Autism Research Initiative Simplex Project (EC), the New York State Psychiatric Institute (JV), and the Mortimer D. Sackler, M.D., Foundation (JV). Blake Turner provided statistical assistance.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychiatry, Columbia University Medical Center, 1051 Riverside Drive, Mail Unit 78, New York, NY, 10032, USA

    Elizabeth Aaron & Jeremy Veenstra-VanderWeele

  2. New York State Psychiatric Institute, 1051 Riverside Drive, New York, NY, 10032, USA

    Elizabeth Aaron & Jeremy Veenstra-VanderWeele

  3. New York-Presbyterian Hospital, Center for Autism and the Developing Brain, 21 Bloomingdale Rd, White Plains, NY, 10605, USA

    Elizabeth Aaron & Jeremy Veenstra-VanderWeele

  4. Sydney Children’s Hospital, Community Health Center, High Street, Randwick, NSW, 2031, Australia

    Alicia Montgomery

  5. Department of Psychiatry, University of Illinois at Chicago, 1601 W. Taylor Street, Chicago, IL, 60612, USA

    Xinguo Ren, Stephen Guter, Ghanshyam N. Pandey & Edwin Cook

  6. Child Study Center, Yale University, 230 South Frontage Rd, New Haven, CT, 06519, USA

    George Anderson

  7. Department of Pharmacology, Vanderbilt Brain Institute, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, 465 21st Avenue South, Nashville, TN, 37232, USA

    Ana M. D. Carneiro

  8. Department of Psychiatry, University of Minnesota, 2450 Riverside Ave, Minneapolis, MN, 55454, USA

    Suma Jacob

  9. Dole Human Development Center, University of Kansas, 1000 Sunnyside Avenue, Lawrence, KS, 66045, USA

    Matthew Mosconi

Authors
  1. Elizabeth Aaron
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  2. Alicia Montgomery
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  3. Xinguo Ren
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  4. Stephen Guter
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  9. Ghanshyam N. Pandey
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  10. Edwin Cook
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  11. Jeremy Veenstra-VanderWeele
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Contributions

EA conducted data analyses, interpreted results, and drafted the manuscript; AM conducted data analyses and helped to draft the manuscript; XR performed experimental procedures; SG conducted data management and cleaning, conducted data analyses, interpreted results, and helped edit the manuscript; GA performed experimental procedures and interpreted results; AMDC provided oversight and guidance for experimental procedures and interpreted results; SJ performed clinical data collection and interpreted results; MM performed clinical data collection and interpreted results; GNP designed and supervised experimental procedures and interpreted results; EC designed the study, oversaw the overall conduct of the study, interpretation the results, and helped to draft the manuscript; JV oversaw the statistical analysis, assisted in interpretation of results, and helped to draft the manuscript. All authors reviewed, edited, and approved the final manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Jeremy Veenstra-VanderWeele.

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Conflict of interest

Jeremy Veenstra-VanderWeele has consulted or served on advisory boards for Roche, Novartis and SynapDx; has received research funding from Roche Pharmaceuticals, Novartis, SynapDx, Seaside Therapeutics, and Forest; and has received stipends for editorial work from Springer and Wiley. Edwin Cook has consulted with and received research funding from Seaside Therapeutics. Suma Jacob has received funding from Roche Pharmaceuticals. The remaining authors declare no competing interests.

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Aaron, E., Montgomery, A., Ren, X. et al. Whole Blood Serotonin Levels and Platelet 5-HT2A Binding in Autism Spectrum Disorder. J Autism Dev Disord 49, 2417–2425 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-019-03989-z

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