Oner Erkan, Kurutas Ergul Belge, Altun Hatice
Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Pharmacy, Adiyaman University, Adiyaman, Türkiye.
Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Medicine, Sutcu Imam University, Kahramanmaras, Türkiye.
Clin Psychopharmacol Neurosci. 2025 May 31;23(2):212-218. doi: 10.9758/cpn.24.1230. Epub 2025 Feb 10.
Autistic spectrum disorders (ASD) are a heterogeneous collection of neurodevelopmental disorders with an unknown etiology. Erythropoietin is a versatile growth factor that plays a crucial role in the nervous system, exhibiting high expression in various regions of the brain, including neurons, glial cells and endothelial cells. Recent animal studies have demonstrated that Epo exerts neuroprotective and neurotrophic effects. The objective of this study was to examine the levels of erythropoietin-(Epo) and its receptor-(EpoR) in children with ASD and to elucidate the potential effects of Epo in the disorder.
The study involved 50 children diagnosed with ASD based on the 5th Edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders criteria, with ASD severity assessed using the Childhood Autism Rating Scale. Additionally, a control group of 50 healthy children was included. Serum samples were collected from both groups, and levels of Epo and its EpoR.
There were no statistically significant differences between the age and sex distributions of the ASD and control groups ( > 0.05). However, analysis of the serum samples revealed a statistically significant reduction in Epo levels in the ASD cohort compared to the control.
The results of our study indicate that Epo may have potential as an adjunctive therapy for children with ASD. The observed decrease in Epo levels and increase in EpoR levels in children with ASD suggest a dysregulation in the Epo-EpoR axis that may contribute to the pathophysiology of ASD. Further research is required to investigate the therapeutic effects of modulating Epo levels in ASD and to elucidate the mechanisms underlying these changes.
自闭症谱系障碍（ASD）是一组病因不明的神经发育障碍的异质性集合。促红细胞生成素是一种多功能生长因子，在神经系统中起关键作用，在大脑的各个区域均有高表达，包括神经元、神经胶质细胞和内皮细胞。最近的动物研究表明，促红细胞生成素具有神经保护和神经营养作用。本研究的目的是检测自闭症谱系障碍患儿促红细胞生成素（Epo）及其受体（EpoR）的水平，并阐明促红细胞生成素在该疾病中的潜在作用。
本研究纳入了50名根据《精神疾病诊断与统计手册》第5版标准诊断为自闭症谱系障碍的儿童，使用儿童自闭症评定量表评估自闭症谱系障碍的严重程度。此外，还纳入了一个由50名健康儿童组成的对照组。从两组中采集血清样本，并检测促红细胞生成素及其受体的水平。
自闭症谱系障碍组和对照组在年龄和性别分布上无统计学显著差异（P>0.05）。然而，对血清样本的分析显示，与对照组相比，自闭症谱系障碍队列中的促红细胞生成素水平有统计学显著降低。
我们的研究结果表明，促红细胞生成素可能有潜力作为自闭症谱系障碍患儿的辅助治疗方法。自闭症谱系障碍患儿中观察到的促红细胞生成素水平降低和促红细胞生成素受体水平升高表明促红细胞生成素 - 促红细胞生成素受体轴失调，这可能导致自闭症谱系障碍的病理生理学改变。需要进一步研究来探讨调节促红细胞生成素水平在自闭症谱系障碍中的治疗效果，并阐明这些变化的潜在机制。
