Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is defined as a developmental disorder that affects 1 in 68 children in the United States. It is a condition that is, at present, only diagnosed by psychological tests and observations or by parental assessment. At this time, there is no quantitative method to diagnose autism. At SUNY Buffalo, it has been observed that children with autism have a lower concentration of stercobilin (a bile pigment synthesized in the small and large intestines) in their urine. We have created an internal standard that can be used to measure the amount of stercobilin in a patient’s urine. This was accomplished by developing and optimizing a method for synthesizing stercobilin as well as incorporating deuterium (heavy hydrogen). By synthesizing stercobilin with deuterium, the stercobilin is labeled allowing the amount naturally occurring in a patient’s urine to be quantified. Successful synthesis and analysis of this labeled internal standard will contribute to investigation of stercobilin as potential use as a biomarker that could be employed as a diagnostic tool that allows for early detection of ASD.

Synthesis of stercobilin: A potential biomarker for autism

254th National Meeting (2017)

The official archive and repository for all ACS Meetings & Expositions abstracts and select posters or presentations.