Does Low Cerebrospinal Fluid Vasopressin Predict Autism?

Seminal studies showing that prairie voles' affiliative behavior depend on the neuropeptide vasopressin (Nature 1993; 365:545) have led to research interest in its relationship to human autistic behaviors. The current researchers report results from a series of studies in monkeys and one in people.

First, researchers examined levels of several biomarkers (e.g., oxytocin and vasopressin in cerebrospinal fluid [CSF] and peripheral blood; RNA expression of a vasopressin receptor) to see whether these distinguished between 15 male macaques that were observed to have high sociality and 15 that expressed low sociality, which served as a model of autism-like behaviors. Only one marker, low CSF vasopressin, predicted inclusion in the low-sociality g…