Division of Cognitive Neurology, Berenson-Allen Center for Noninvasive Brain Stimulation, Department of Neurology, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Mass., USA.
Med Princ Pract. 2014;23(1):14-7. doi: 10.1159/000354295. Epub 2013 Aug 31.
To investigate the role of desert hedgehog (Dhh) in a neurodevelopmental disorder known as autism.
This study was conducted at the Autism Research and Treatment Center, King Khalid University Hospital, Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia from October 2011 to May 2012. The serum levels of the Dhh protein in 57 patients recently diagnosed with autism and 37 age-matched healthy children were measured using ELISA. The Childhood Autism Rating Scale (CARS) was used for the assessment of autistic severity.
The mean serum level of Dhh in patients with autism (1.38 ± 0.50 ng/ml) was significantly lower (p = 0.0003) than that of normal controls (1.73 ± 0.37 ng/ml). There was no significant relationship between the serum level of Dhh and the CARS score (p = 0.28), age (p = 0.51) or gender (p = 0.76).
The Dhh serum level of patients with autism was lower than that of controls, probably indicating that the serum level of Dhh might be implicated in the physiology of autism. However, this finding should be treated with caution until further investigations are performed with larger populations.
探究沙漠刺猬（Dhh）在一种神经发育障碍（即自闭症）中的作用。
本研究于 2011 年 10 月至 2012 年 5 月在沙特阿拉伯利雅得的 King Khalid 大学医院自闭症研究与治疗中心进行。采用 ELISA 法测量了 57 例新诊断为自闭症患者和 37 名年龄匹配的健康儿童的血清 Dhh 蛋白水平。采用儿童自闭症评定量表（CARS）评估自闭症严重程度。
自闭症患者的 Dhh 血清平均水平（1.38±0.50ng/ml）显著低于正常对照组（1.73±0.37ng/ml）（p=0.0003）。Dhh 血清水平与 CARS 评分（p=0.28）、年龄（p=0.51）或性别（p=0.76）之间均无显著关系。
自闭症患者的 Dhh 血清水平低于对照组，可能表明 Dhh 血清水平可能与自闭症的生理学有关。然而，在进一步的大样本研究之前，这一发现应谨慎对待。
