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There are several reasons for testing folinic acid in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Dietary folate must be reduced to folinic acid to enter metabolic pathways. Various genetic mutations prevent this reduction and thus mimic cerebral folate deficiency, even in the presence of normal blood folate. Researchers found that neurodevelopmental and ASD symptoms in children who had cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) folate deficiency (with normal blood folate) improved with folinic acid. Children with ASD have high rates of peripheral folate receptor-α autoantibodies (FRAAs), which are associated with cerebral folate deficiency, and therefore these children may respond to folinic acid.
In a single-site, 12-week, double-blind study, 48 children…