Department of Psychiatry and Neurology, Hamamatsu University School of Medicine, Hamamatsu, Japan.
Prog Neuropsychopharmacol Biol Psychiatry. 2010 Feb 1;34(1):154-8. doi: 10.1016/j.pnpbp.2009.10.017. Epub 2009 Oct 29.
The neurobiological basis of autism remains poorly understood. To examine the role played by serum cytokines in brain development, we hypothesized that Platelet-Derived Growth Factor (PDGF) and Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor (VEGF) may be associated with pathophysiology of autism. In this study, we screened serum levels of these growth factors in young male subjects with autism.
We measured serum levels of PDGF subtypes and VEGF in the 31 male children with autism (6-19 years old) and 31 healthy age- and gender-matched subjects.
The serum levels of PDGF-BB in male children with autism (N=31, 5624.5+/-1651.8 pg/mL [mean+/-SD]) were significantly higher (two-tailed Student's t-test: p=0.0188) than those of normal control subjects (N=31, 4758.2+/-1521.5 pg/mL [mean+/-SD]). There was a significant and positive correlation (Pearson's r=0.5320, p=0.0010) between the serum levels of PDGF-BB and the Autism Diagnostic Interview-Revised (ADI-R) domain C scores, which represent stereotyped patterns of behavior in the children with autism. However, there were no marked or significant correlations between serum PDGF-BB levels and clinical variables, including the other ADI-R scores and Intellectual Quotient (IQ) scores by WAIS-R. There were no significant change and correlations with clinical variables in serum PDGF-AA, PDGF-AB, and VEGF levels in the children with autism.
Increased levels of serum PDGF-BB homodimers might be implicated in the pathophysiology of autism.
自闭症的神经生物学基础仍知之甚少。为了研究血清细胞因子在大脑发育中的作用，我们假设血小板衍生生长因子（PDGF）和血管内皮生长因子（VEGF）可能与自闭症的病理生理学有关。在这项研究中，我们检测了自闭症男性儿童血清中这些生长因子的水平。
我们测量了 31 名自闭症男性儿童（6-19 岁）和 31 名年龄和性别匹配的健康对照者血清中 PDGF 亚型和 VEGF 的水平。
自闭症男性儿童（N=31）血清 PDGF-BB 水平（5624.5+/-1651.8 pg/mL [均值+/-标准差]）显著高于正常对照组（N=31，4758.2+/-1521.5 pg/mL [均值+/-标准差]）（双侧学生 t 检验：p=0.0188）。自闭症儿童血清 PDGF-BB 水平与 Autism Diagnostic Interview-Revised（ADI-R）域 C 评分呈显著正相关（Pearson r=0.5320，p=0.0010），该评分代表自闭症儿童刻板行为模式。然而，血清 PDGF-BB 水平与临床变量，包括 ADI-R 评分和韦氏智力量表（WAIS-R）智商，无明显或显著相关性。自闭症儿童血清 PDGF-AA、PDGF-AB 和 VEGF 水平与临床变量无显著变化和相关性。
血清 PDGF-BB 同二聚体水平升高可能与自闭症的病理生理学有关。
