儿童孤独症多巴胺转运体脑显像研究

Dopamine transporter brain imaging in children with autism

目的通过单光子发射型计算机体层扫描技术(SPECT)研究孤独症儿童脑内多巴胺转运体(DAT)分布。方法对10例孤独症儿童和10例正常对照儿童进行脑SPECT显像,计算并比较脑内不同功能区DAT的半定量值。结果两组儿童纹状体区域的DAT半定量值左、右两侧差异均无统计学意义(P=0.556、0.563);孤独症儿童的DAT半定量值明显高于对照儿童,差异有统计学意义(P=0.018)。结论孤独症儿童脑内多巴胺能神经元活动亢进,SPECT可能有助于儿童孤独症诊断。

Objective To study the distribution of brain dopamine transporter （DAT） in children with autism by single photon emission computed tomography （SPECT）. Methods Brain SPECT imaging was performed in 10 autistic children and l0 normal children, and DAT distribution in different functional areas of brain were calculated and compared by semi-quantitative evaluation of tracer uptake. Results There were no differences in tracer uptake between left and right striatum either in autistic children or in normal children （P=0.556, 0.563）, while the tracer uptake level in autistic children was significantly higher than that in normal children （P=0.018）. Conclusions The striatum dopaminergic neurons are hyperactive in children with autism. SPECT is helpful for the diagnosis of autism.