in Normal and Autistic Children
Because of the high percentage of autistic males entered
into the study (91.7%), comparisons of the urine metabo-
lite concentrations in autistic children were made only to
controls of the same sex. Comparison of the urine metabo-
lite concentrations of autistic males and control males
(Table 1) revealed that the mean values for all of the urine
metabolite concentrations except carboxycitric acid were
higher in the autistic group than in the control group. Eight
of these 9 mean values of the autistic males were signifi-
cantly higher than those of the control males (P<.05). The
median values of the autistic males for 8 of the 10 metabo-
lites were also higher in the autistic male group. The mean
difference between the autistic and normal males was
greater than 60% for all of the metabolites except 3-(3-
hydroxyphenyl)-3-hydroxypropionic acid and carboxyc-
itric acid. The mean arabinose concentration of the autistic
males was 5 times greater than that of the control males,
and the median value for the arabinose concentration was
6 times that of the control males. The median value for uri-
nary tartaric acid concentration in the autistic males was
over 6 times that of the control males, but the t test signif-
icance was borderline (P=.09'7). The limited data for the
autistic females (n = 2) restricted any generalizations about
this group compared to normal females.
First Course ofNystatin Therapy. Of the 23 autistic chil-
dren admitted into the antifungal drug study, 22 com-
pleted nystatin therapy and had their urine retested fol-
lowing this therapy. Eight of the 10 mean values for the
urine metabolite concentrations decreased from baseline
values following the first 10 days of nystatin therapy
(Table 2). The mean concentrations of 5-hydroxymethyl-
2-furoic acid, furan-2,5-dicarboxylic acid, and arabinose
decreased significantly (P<.05). The mean values for
the urine metabolite concentrations of phenylcarboxylic
acid and 3-(3-hydroxyphenyl)-3-hydroxypropionic acid
increased from baseline values following nystatin thera-
py; the mean concentration of phenylcarboxylic acid in-
creased by 61.9% (P=.031).
Second Course ofNystatin Therapy. Fifteen of the 23 sub-
jects admitted into the antifungal drug study completed the
second course of nystatin therapy (an additional 60 days),
and their urine was retested following this therapy. Nine of
the 10 mean values for the urine metabolite concentrations
decreased from baseline values following the second course
of nystatin therapy (Table 3). Baseline values in Table 3
are different from those in Table 2 because only baseline
values for those completing the second course of nystatin
were included in Table 3. The mean concentrations of
