Department of Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics, Children's Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, 3333# Bin sheng Road, City of Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, China.
Department of Neurology, Children's Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, 3333# Bin sheng Road, City of Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, China.
Biol Trace Elem Res. 2019 Oct;191(2):269-275. doi: 10.1007/s12011-018-1615-4. Epub 2019 Jan 2.
Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder, which has increased markedly during the last decades. Essential trace elements play an important role in neurological function and their imbalances are common in children with ASD. The objective of the present study was to investigate whole blood levels of trace elements including zinc (Zn), copper (Cu), iron (Fe), and magnesium (Mg) in Chinese children with ASD. In total, 113 children diagnosed with ASD and 141 age-matched and gender-matched neurotypical children, divided into two gender and age groups of preschool age (2-5 years old) and school (6-10 years old) age, were examined. The quantitative analyses of whole blood trace element contents were performed by using flame atomic absorption spectroscopy. In the present study, the children with ASD generally had lower whole blood levels of Zn than the neurotypical controls. No significant differences in the whole blood Cu, Zn/Cu ratio, Fe, or Mg was detected between the ASD group and the control group. It is notable that whole blood Fe level in boys with ASD was significantly higher than in girls with ASD, and was nearly significant when compared with the control level of boys. After stratification for age, a significant 6% decrease in whole blood Zn levels was detected in preschool-aged children with ASD as compared to the control values. However, this significant ASD-related change was not detected in school-aged children. The whole blood Zn level and Zn/Cu ratio were significantly increased in school-aged children than in preschool-aged children in both ASD and control group. In addition, school-aged children with ASD had a significantly higher level of whole blood Fe than preschool-aged children with ASD. The results of the present study suggest an association between whole blood levels of Zn in Chinese children with ASD.
自闭症谱系障碍（ASD）是一种神经发育障碍，在过去几十年中明显增加。必需微量元素在神经功能中起着重要作用，其失衡在 ASD 儿童中很常见。本研究的目的是调查包括锌（Zn）、铜（Cu）、铁（Fe）和镁（Mg）在内的微量元素在 ASD 中国儿童全血中的水平。共有 113 名被诊断为 ASD 的儿童和 141 名年龄和性别匹配的神经典型儿童参与了研究，分为学龄前（2-5 岁）和学龄（6-10 岁）两个性别和年龄组。使用火焰原子吸收光谱法对全血微量元素含量进行定量分析。在本研究中，ASD 儿童的全血 Zn 水平普遍低于神经典型对照组。ASD 组和对照组之间的全血 Cu、Zn/Cu 比值、Fe 或 Mg 无显著差异。值得注意的是，ASD 男孩的全血 Fe 水平明显高于 ASD 女孩，与男孩对照组相比也接近显著。按年龄分层后，与对照组相比，学龄前 ASD 儿童的全血 Zn 水平显著降低了 6%。然而，在学龄儿童中未检测到这种与 ASD 相关的显著变化。与学龄前儿童相比，ASD 和对照组的学龄儿童的全血 Zn 水平和 Zn/Cu 比值均显著升高。此外，与学龄前 ASD 儿童相比，学龄 ASD 儿童的全血 Fe 水平显著升高。本研究的结果表明，中国 ASD 儿童全血 Zn 水平与 ASD 之间存在关联。
