Al-Ayadhi Laila Yousif, Alghamdi Farah Ali, Altamimi Lamees Abdula, Alsughayer Luluh Yousef, Alhowikan Abdulrahman Mohammed, Halepoto Dost Muhammad
Laila Yousif Al-Ayadhi, PhD. Autism Research and Treatment center, Department of Physiology, Faculty of Medicine. King Saud University, P.O. Box: 2925, Riyadh 11461, Saudi Arabia.
Farah Ali Alghamdi, MBBS. Faculty of Medicine, Dar Al Uloom University, Al Falah, Riyadh 13314, Saudi Arabia.
Pak J Med Sci. 2021 Jul-Aug;37(4):1166-1171. doi: 10.12669/pjms.37.4.4032.
To investigate the blood plasma levels of Fetuin-A protein in children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and healthy controls that could offer novel diagnostic biomarkers of disease development in ASD. Another objective was to investigate the severity of autistic children by Childhood Autism Rating Scale (CARS) and Short Sensory Profile (SSP).
This case control study was carried out at Autism Research and Treatment (ART) Center, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, from October 2019 to February 2020. Plasma concentration of Fetuin-A was analyzed by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) in ASD subjects (n=46) and normal controls (n=44). Correlation among Fetuin-A levels, CARS and SSP was established by Spearman's correlation coefficient (r).
Overall, autistic children had significantly (p= 0.0.02) lower Fetuin-A concentration [50.76 (22.2-68.5) ng/ml] than those of healthy controls [53.7 (35.6-99.7) ng/ml] [median (interquartile range)]. Children with mild to moderate autism (n=24, 52%) also showed significantly lower Fetuin-A levels [50.0 (30.0-68.2) ng/ml], (p =0.02} than healthy controls [53.7 (35.6-99.7) ng/ml] [median (IQR)]. However, there was no significant change (p = 0.71) observed between the Fetuin-A levels of children with severe autism [51.8 (22.2-68.5)] ng/ml, mild to moderate autism [50 (30-68.2)] ng/ml [median (IQR)] and healthy controls (p=0.12). Also no significant correlations between Fetuin-A, CARS and SSP were observed (CARS, r= 0.024, p=0.88; SSP, r= -0.003, p=0.98).
Overall the low Fetuin-A plasma values in ASD subjects, most likely show that Fetuin-A could be associated in the physiology of autism. Further studies with larger patient and control cohorts will be necessary to determine whether Fetuin-A can be used as a biomarker for ASD.
研究自闭症谱系障碍（ASD）患儿和健康对照者的血浆胎球蛋白-A蛋白水平，以期为ASD疾病发展提供新的诊断生物标志物。另一个目的是通过儿童自闭症评定量表（CARS）和简短感觉概况量表（SSP）来研究自闭症儿童的严重程度。
本病例对照研究于2019年10月至2020年2月在沙特阿拉伯利雅得国王沙特大学自闭症研究与治疗（ART）中心进行。采用酶联免疫吸附测定（ELISA）法分析ASD受试者（n = 46）和正常对照者（n = 44）的血浆胎球蛋白-A浓度。通过Spearman相关系数（r）确定胎球蛋白-A水平、CARS和SSP之间的相关性。
总体而言，自闭症儿童的胎球蛋白-A浓度[50.76（22.2 - 68.5）ng/ml]显著低于健康对照者[53.7（35.6 - 99.7）ng/ml][中位数（四分位间距）]（p = 0.02）。轻度至中度自闭症儿童（n = 24，52%）的胎球蛋白-A水平[50.0（30.0 - 68.2）ng/ml]也显著低于健康对照者[53.7（35.6 - 99.7）ng/ml][中位数（四分位间距）]（p = 0.02）。然而，重度自闭症儿童[51.8（22.2 - 68.5）]ng/ml与轻度至中度自闭症儿童[50（30 - 68.2）]ng/ml[中位数（四分位间距）]以及健康对照者之间的胎球蛋白-A水平未观察到显著变化（p = 0.71）（p = 0.12）。胎球蛋白-A、CARS和SSP之间也未观察到显著相关性（CARS，r = 0.024，p = 0.88；SSP，r = -0.003，p = 0.98）。
总体而言，ASD受试者血浆胎球蛋白-A值较低，很可能表明胎球蛋白-A与自闭症的生理过程有关。需要进一步对更大规模的患者和对照队列进行研究，以确定胎球蛋白-A是否可作为ASD的生物标志物。
