A metabolomics study of children with neurodevelopmental problems due to dioxin exposure

在越南二恶英污染的热点地区，我们用自闭症谱评量表(ASRS)对3岁儿童的社会情绪行为进行了测试，发现TCDD高暴露组的ASRS得分高于低暴露组，表明了自闭症的特征。然后，我们分析了高TCDD组和年龄和性别匹配的低暴露组的尿代谢物，并检测候选化合物来区分这些高TCDD组和低TCDD组。尿组氨酸和色氨酸被选为良好的阴性标志物，在高TCDD组观察到这些氨基酸水平显著降低。然而，在越南另一个热点地区生活的68名6个月大的婴儿中，母乳中的二恶英水平与尿组氨酸和色氨酸水平之间没有明显的相关性。他们可能太年轻了，无法检测到尿中氨基酸的变化。我们需要对他们进行更长时间的随访，并收集更多的尿样。

In a hot spot of dioxin contamination in Vietnam, we examined social emotional behaviors by autism spectrum rating scale (ASRS) of 3-year-old children and found that the high TCDD exposed group showed higher ASRS scores as compared with the lower exposed groups, suggesting autistic traits. Then, we analyzed urinary metabolomes of the high TCDD group and age and gender matched low exposure groups and detected candidate compound to discriminate these high and low TCDD groups. Urinary histidine and tryptophan were selected for good negative markers and significant decreased levels of these amino acids were observed in the high TCDD group. However, no significant correlation was observed between dioxin levels in breast milk and urinary levels of histidine and tryptophan in 68 6-month-old infants living in another hot spot in Vietnam. They might be too young to detect alteration of urinary amino acids. We need to follow-up them for longer time and collect more number of urine specimens.