Salivary clues in autism

Salivary miRNA and microbial RNA could be used as biomarkers to diagnose autism spectrum disorder, according to research from Quadrant Biosciences Inc., State University of New York Upstate Medical University and Pennsylvania State University.

The team had originally identified a panel of 14 miRNAs that distinguished children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) from healthy children in a 2016 study. Having observed that 90% of the salivary RNA was microbial rather than human, the team then explored whether microbial RNA could also be predictive of ASD...