Altered activities of monoamine oxidase a in omani autistic children – a brief report

Abstract

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a mysterious neurodevelpomental disorder with onset prior to 3 years of age. Monoamine oxidases (MAO) A and B are the enzymes expressed in brain and able to metabolize dopamine, norepinephrine, epinephrine, and serotonin. Numerous studies reported the serotonin neurotransmission abnormalities and abnormal activities of monoamine oxidases (MAO) have been implicated in the pathophysiology of autism and other neuropsychiatric disorders. No such biochemical data is available for Omani autistic children. So, the present study was conducted to evaluate levels of the plasma monoamine oxidases (MAO) activity in Omani autistic children (n=19) by using Invitrogen MAO kit, USA. Significant reduction in the activities of MAO A and no significant change in the activities of MAO B in plasma were found in Omani autistic children as compared with controls. Our results coincide with the previous reports and suggest that there might be some relationship between MAO A and the pathophysiology of autism.