A Prospective Blinded Evaluation of Urinary Porphyrins Verses the Clinical Severity of Autism Spectrum Disorders

A prospective, blinded study evaluated the relationship between autism spectrum disorder (ASD) severity measured by Childhood Autism Rating Scale (CARS) scores and urinary porphyrins among a cohort of participants (n = 26). …Total cP measured at LabCorp was found to significantly correlate with precoproporphryin (a specific porphyrin marker for mercury toxicity) measured at the Laboratoire Philippe Auguste. Since urinary porphyrin testing is clinically available, relatively inexpensive, and noninvasive, it may be used to help suggest whether heavy metal toxicity is associated with ASD.

Abstract. Journal of toxicology and environmental health. Part A 2009; 72(24):1585-91