Patent ID: 7998744

Claim:
A method for determining predisposition to or diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder in an individual, comprising: determining the presence or quantity of at least three different biomarkers in a test sample obtained from the individual, each of the at least three different biomarkers being an mRNA or a protein expression product of a different test X-chromosome gene, wherein the different test X-chromosome genes are selected from the group of X-chromosome genes consisting of ELK1, PLP2, PQBP1, ZNF81, CFP, DDX3X, CASK, RP2, DMD, CDKL5, MID1, MAP7D2, GPR64, SCML1, CLCN4, AMELX, WWC3, ARHGEF9, FLJ44635, NLGN3, KIF4A, KIAA2022, RNF12, ZMAT1, DIAPH2, GPRASP1, CXorf39, NUP62CL, TBC1D8B, AGTR2, AMOT, KLHL13, LONRF3, WDR44, UTP14A, SH2D1A, BCORL1, FHL1, CT45-4, LOC644538, RP13-36C9, 1 RP13-36C9.6, LDOC1, and SLC6A8; determining an expression level of each of the test X-chromosome genes based upon the presence or quantity in the test sample of the biomarker for that test X-chromosome gene; comparing the expression level of each test X-chromosome gene to a corresponding control expression level; and finding that three or more of the test X-chromosome genes are either overexpressed or underexpresed as compared to a the corresponding control expression level to determine that the individual is predisposed to or affected with autism spectrum disorder, overexpressed genes being up-regulated in an amount from about 1.2 to about 2.7 of the corresponding control expression level and underexpressed genes being down-regulated in an amount from about 0.20 to about 0.70 of the corresponding control expression level.