by Claudia Boyd-Barrett posted in Parenting

Scientists may have found a clue to autism spectrum disorder that, if confirmed, could lead to improved diagnosis and even treatment for the condition.
Researchers at Stanford University and the University of California, Davis, measured hormone levels in brain and spinal cord fluid taken from 30 male, rhesus macaque monkeys. Half of the monkeys exhibited anti-social traits comparable to humans who have autism (they weren't interested in playing with or socializing with other macaques). The other 15 monkeys were highly social.
The researchers discovered that, compared to the social monkeys, the anti-social monkeys had very low levels of a hormone called vasopressin. Vasopressin regulates blood pressure and fluid retention, but scientists think it may also be linked to social and nurturing behavior. Next, the scientists studied vasopressin levels in spinal fluid taken from 14 boys. The fluid had been collected for other medical reasons, not for this experiment. Half of the boys had autism spectrum disorder, the other half did not.

Again, the scientists found that vasopressin levels were significantly lower in the boys diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder compared to the boys without autism, according to the findings published in the journal Science Translational Medicine.
The findings are preliminary. Scientists will need to conduct much bigger studies to confirm whether vasopressin is indeed linked to autism and, if so, what ...