Al-Zaid Felwah S, Alhader AbdelFattah A, Al-Ayadhi Laila Y
1] Department of Physiology, College of Medicine, Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia [2] Autism Research and Treatment Center, AL-Amodi Autism Research Chair, College of Medicine, Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
Department of Physiology, College of Medicine, Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
Sci Rep. 2014 Sep 26;4:6478. doi: 10.1038/srep06478.
Autism is a neurodevelopmental disorder with unclear pathogenesis. Many clinical observations and hormone studies have suggested the involvement of the neuroprotective hormone ghrelin in autism. The current study aimed to investigate the potential role of ghrelin in autism and to elucidate the associated hormonal dysregulation. This case-control study investigated acyl ghrelin (AG), des-acyl ghrelin (DG), total testosterone (TT), free testosterone (FT), leptin and growth hormone (GH) levels in 31 male children with autism and 28 healthy age and sex-matched controls. Hormone levels were measured in the blood using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and chemiluminescence immunoassay kits. AG, DG and GH levels were significantly lower in the autism group than in the control group (p ≤ 0.001, p ≤ 0.005 and p ≤ 0.05, respectively). However, TT, FT and leptin levels were significantly higher in the autism group than in the control group (p ≤ 0.05, p ≤ 0.001 and p ≤ 0.01, respectively). Our results for the first time demonstrate low AG and DG levels in autistic children. Considering the capacity of ghrelin to affect neuroinflammatory and apoptotic processes that are linked to autism, this study suggests a potential role for the hormone ghrelin in the pathogenesis of autism.
自闭症是一种发病机制不明的神经发育障碍。许多临床观察和激素研究表明，具有神经保护作用的胃饥饿素参与了自闭症的发病过程。本研究旨在探讨胃饥饿素在自闭症中的潜在作用，并阐明相关的激素失调情况。这项病例对照研究调查了31名患自闭症男童和28名年龄及性别匹配的健康对照儿童的酰基胃饥饿素（AG）、去酰基胃饥饿素（DG）、总睾酮（TT）、游离睾酮（FT）、瘦素和生长激素（GH）水平。使用酶联免疫吸附测定法和化学发光免疫测定试剂盒检测血液中的激素水平。自闭症组的AG、DG和GH水平显著低于对照组（分别为p≤0.001、p≤0.005和p≤0.05）。然而，自闭症组的TT、FT和瘦素水平显著高于对照组（分别为p≤0.05、p≤0.001和p≤0.01）。我们的研究结果首次证明自闭症儿童的AG和DG水平较低。鉴于胃饥饿素能够影响与自闭症相关的神经炎症和凋亡过程，本研究提示胃饥饿素在自闭症发病机制中可能发挥作用。
