Day and nighttime excretion of 6-sulphatoxymelatonin in adolescents and young adults with autistic disorder

Biological and psychological rhythms: An integrative approach to rhythm disturbances in autistic disorder

“…Nocturnal urinary secretion of 6-SM is an excellent indicator of the level of plasma melatonin (Nowak et al, 1987;Graham et al, 1998). This significant correlation between reduced melatonin and autistic social communication deficit was confirmed in a recent study (Tordjman et al, 2012). Thus, nocturnal excretion of 6-SM was negatively correlated with autism severity in the overall level of verbal language and imitative social play.…”

“…Several studies have reported in children and adolescents with autism abnormally low levels of melatonin and loss of rhythmicity of its secretion (for a review, see Tordjman et al, 2012). However, the underlying mechanisms of these abnormalities are still unclear and remain to be studied more thoroughly.…”

“…This loss of rhythmicity of melatonin and cortisol secretion reminds us of the classical ''sameness'' described by Kanner (and DSM-IV) as a key symptom of autism. As underlined by Tordjman et al (2012), the absence of circadian variation observed in individuals with autism compared to controls, might be playing a role in, or be a reflection of, the hypothesized alteration in time perception in autism (Boucher, 2001;Wimpory et al, 2002). Thus, Boucher's model of autism relates the very poor intuitive sense of time observed in individuals with autism to abnormalities in circadian physiological measures and sleep-wake cycle (Boucher, 2001).…”

Counting Sheep: Sleep Disorders in Children With Autism Spectrum Disorders

“…Challenges with reciprocal social communication have been found to be associated with bedtime resistance, and sensitivity to sensory stimuli has been associated with sleep anxiety (Hollway, Aman, & Butter, 2013). Serum melatonin, an important regulator of sleep, has been negatively correlated with autism severity, putting children with more severe ASDs at greater risk for the development of sleep problems associated with low serum melatonin levels (Tordjman et al, 2012;Tordjman, Anderson, Pichard, Charbuy, & Touitou, 2005).…”

“…Several studies have found a decreased plasma concentration of melatonin in children with ASDs (Melke et al, 2008;Tordjman et al, 2012;Tordjman et al, 2005). A systematic review of nine articles related to melatonin levels in children with ASDs showed that in all nine studies, investigators found a decreased nocturnal plasma concentration of melatonin in children with ASDs, and seven studies found that both daytime and nighttime melatonin levels were decreased in children with ASDs compared with children without an ASD (Rossignol & Frye, 2011).…”