The Hunt for Biomarkers of Autism Spectrum Disorders

Autism spectrum disorders (ASD) are a group of neurodevelopmental disorders in which individuals may experience delayed or impaired language development as well as difficulties in social interactions. Diagnosis is made on the basis of a series of psychological tests and observed behavior; a clinical biochemical diagnosis does not yet exist for ASD. Advances in modern technologies in the fields of genomics, proteomics, and metabolomics are adding to our knowledge of ASD etiology. This review examines the progress in identifying potential biomarkers of ASD, particularly in the past decade; the advancements made in the areas of genomics, proteomics, and metabolomics indicate that ASD are inherently heterogeneous, yet there may yet be optimism that in spite of this heterogeneity, one or several markers may emerge to advance clinical diagnosis and eventually treatment of ASD.