Disease Markers

Review Article

Perspective Biological Markers for Autism Spectrum Disorders: Advantages of the Use of Receiver Operating Characteristic Curves in Evaluating Marker Sensitivity and Specificity

Table 7

Features and ROC curve analyses of peripheral biomarkers reported in Figure 2 and published in [56]. Combined score has a value < 0.0001, whereas each parameter has a value < 0.01 or <0.05. Both sensitivity and specificity were strongly increased by the combination of ROC curves. AUC: Area Under the Curve; FA: fatty acids; TBARS: thiobarbituric acid reactive substances; and MDA: malondialdehyde.
Lab testIncreaseDecrease valuesReceiver Operating Characteristic (ROC)DiagnosisAge (Y):
range (mean ± SD) 		Number
M/F		Control groupCountryBiologic sampleTechniqueReference
Cut-off valuesSensitivity SpecificityAUC score
(1) Na+/K+-ATPase activity
(µgPi/mg prt/h)		 <0.00015.269100%100%1.00      Red blood cellsBiochemical assay 
(2) 8-Isoprostane
(ng/mg Cr)		 <0.012,13685.71%65%0.7476      UrineELISA 
(3) Hexanoyl-lysine adduct (nmol/mg Cr) <0.050.149947.62%90%0.6595      UrineELISA 
(4) Total monounsaturated fatty acids (% of total FA) <0.0117.8766.67%80%0.7369 ASD5–12 (6.8 ± 2.23)17/4HCItalyRed blood cellsGas chromatography[56]
(5) Omega 6/omega 3 <0.056.5252.38%850.6726      Red blood cellsGas chromatography 
(6) Inner membrane leaflet fluidity  <0.050.232100%55%0.7143      Red blood cellsFluorescence anisotropy (reciprocal of fluidity) of TMA 
(7) TBARS (MDA, µM) <0.010.438180.85%70%0.7821      Red blood cellsBiochemical assay 
Combined scores of lab tests 2–7  <0.000190.48%89.47%0.930.4799