Abstract

Although previous studies have suggested the involvement of dopamine (DA) and noradrenaline (NA) neurotransmissions in the autism spectrum disorder (ASD) pathophysiology, few studies have examined these neurotransmissions in individuals with ASD in vivo. Here, we investigated DA D₁ receptor (D₁R) and noradrenaline transporter (NAT) binding in adults with ASD (n = 18) and neurotypical controls (n = 20) by utilizing two different PET radioligands, [¹¹C]SCH23390 and (S,S)-[¹⁸F]FMeNER-D₂, respectively. We found no significant group differences in DA D₁R (striatum, anterior cingulate cortex, and temporal cortex) or NAT (thalamus and pons) binding. However, in the ASD group, there were significant negative correlations between DA D₁R binding (striatum, anterior cingulate cortex and temporal cortex) and the “attention to detail” subscale score of the Autism Spectrum Quotient. Further, there was a significant positive correlation between DA D₁R binding (temporal cortex) and emotion perception ability assessed by the neurocognitive battery. Associations of NAT binding with empathic abilities and executive function were found in controls, but were absent in the ASD group. Although a lack of significant group differences in binding might be partly due to the heterogeneity of ASD, our results indicate that central DA and NA function might play certain roles in the clinical characteristics of ASD.

中文翻译：

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自闭症谱系障碍患者多巴胺 D1 受体和去甲肾上腺素转运蛋白的结合：一项 PET 研究。

摘要

尽管之前的研究表明多巴胺 (DA) 和去甲肾上腺素 (NA) 神经传递参与了自闭症谱系障碍 (ASD) 的病理生理学，但很少有研究在体内检查 ASD 患者的这些神经传递。这里，我们调查DA d _1个受体（d _1个R）和去甲肾上腺素转运蛋白（NAT）的成年人患有ASD（结合Ñ  = 18）和神经学典范对照（Ñ  = 20）通过利用两种不同的PET放射性配体，[ ¹¹ C] SCH23390和( S,S )-[ ¹⁸ F]FMeNER-D ₂分别。我们发现 DA D ₁没有显着的组间差异R（纹状体、前扣带皮层和颞叶皮层）或 NAT（丘脑和脑桥）结合。然而，在 ASD 组中，DA D ₁ R 结合（纹状体、前扣带皮层和颞叶皮层）与自闭症谱商的“关注细节”分量表得分之间存在显着的负相关。此外，DA D ₁之间存在显着的正相关由神经认知电池评估的 R 结合（颞叶皮层）和情绪感知能力。在对照组中发现了 NAT 绑定与移情能力和执行功能的关联，但在 ASD 组中不存在。尽管结合缺乏显着的组别差异可能部分是由于 ASD 的异质性，但我们的结果表明中枢 DA 和 NA 功能可能在 ASD 的临床特征中发挥某些作用。