31
views
0
recommends
+1 Recommend
0 collections
    0
    shares
      • Record: found
      • Abstract: found
      • Article: not found

      Marked elevation of adrenal steroids, especially androgens, in saliva of prepubertal autistic children

      research-article

      Read this article at

      ScienceOpenPublisherPMC
      Bookmark
          There is no author summary for this article yet. Authors can add summaries to their articles on ScienceOpen to make them more accessible to a non-specialist audience.

          Abstract

          Autism is diagnosed on the basis of behavioral manifestations, but its biomarkers are not well defined. A strong gender bias typifying autism (it is 4–5 times more prevalent in males) suggests involvement of steroid hormones in autism pathobiology. In order to evaluate the potential roles of such hormones in autism, we compared the salivary levels of 22 steroids in prepubertal autistic male and female children from two age groups (3–4 and 7–9 years old) with those in healthy controls. The steroids were analyzed using gas chromatography–mass spectrometry and radioimmunoassay. Statistical analysis (ANOVA) revealed that autistic children had significantly higher salivary concentrations of many steroid hormones (both C21 and C19) than control children. These anomalies were more prominent in older autistic children and in boys. The levels of androgens (androstenediol, dehydroepiandrosterone, androsterone and their polar conjugates) were especially increased, indicative of precocious adrenarche and predictive of early puberty. The concentrations of the steroid precursor, pregnenolone, and of several pregnanolones were also higher in autistic than in healthy children, but cortisol levels were not different. Some steroids, whose levels are raised in autism (allopregnanolone, androsterone, pregnenolone, dehydroepiandrosterone and their sulfate conjugates) are neuroactive and modulate GABA, glutamate, and opioid neurotransmission, affecting brain development and functioning. These steroids may contribute to autism pathobiology and symptoms such as elevated anxiety, sleep disturbances, sensory deficits, and stereotypies among others. We suggest that salivary levels of selected steroids may serve as biomarkers of autism pathology useful for monitoring the progress of therapy.

          Electronic supplementary material

          The online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s00787-013-0472-0) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

          Related collections

          Most cited references50

          • Record: found
          • Abstract: not found
          • Article: not found

          Organizing action of prenatally administered testosterone propionate on the tissues mediating mating behavior in the female guinea pig.

            Bookmark
            • Record: found
            • Abstract: found
            • Article: not found

            Elevated immune response in the brain of autistic patients.

            This study determined immune activities in the brain of ASD patients and matched normal subjects by examining cytokines in the brain tissue. Our results showed that proinflammatory cytokines (TNF-alpha, IL-6 and GM-CSF), Th1 cytokine (IFN-gamma) and chemokine (IL-8) were significantly increased in the brains of ASD patients compared with the controls. However the Th2 cytokines (IL-4, IL-5 and IL-10) showed no significant difference. The Th1/Th2 ratio was also significantly increased in ASD patients. ASD patients displayed an increased innate and adaptive immune response through the Th1 pathway, suggesting that localized brain inflammation and autoimmune disorder may be involved in the pathogenesis of ASD.
              Bookmark
              • Record: found
              • Abstract: found
              • Article: not found

              Contributions of the environment and environmentally vulnerable physiology to autism spectrum disorders.

              This review presents a rationale and evidence for contributions of environmental influences and environmentally vulnerable physiology to autism spectrum disorders (ASDs). Recent studies suggest a substantial increase in ASD prevalence above earlier Centers for Disease Control figures of one in 150, only partly explicable by data artifacts, underscoring the possibility of environmental contributors to increased prevalence. Some gene variants in ASD confer altered vulnerability to environmental stressors and exposures. De-novo mutations and advanced parental age as a risk factor for ASD also suggest a role for environment. Systemic and central nervous system pathophysiology, including oxidative stress, neuroinflammation, and mitochondrial dysfunction can be consistent with a role for environmental influence (e.g. from air pollution, organophosphates, heavy metals) in ASD, and some of the underlying biochemical disturbances (such as abnormalities in glutathione, a critical antioxidant and detoxifier) can be reversed by targeted nutritional interventions. Dietary factors and food contaminants may contribute risk. Improvement and loss of diagnosis in some with ASD suggest brain circuitry amenable to environmental modulation. Prevalence, genetic, exposure, and pathophysiological evidence all suggest a role for environmental factors in the inception and lifelong modulation of ASD. This supports the need for seeking targets for early and ongoing medical prevention and treatment of ASD.
                Bookmark

                Author and article information

                Contributors
                +48-22-4582624 , +48-22-8427644 , mdmajewska@gmail.com
                Journal
                Eur Child Adolesc Psychiatry
                Eur Child Adolesc Psychiatry
                European Child & Adolescent Psychiatry
                Springer Berlin Heidelberg (Berlin/Heidelberg )
                1018-8827
                1435-165X
                17 September 2013
                17 September 2013
                2014
                : 23
                : 485-498
                Affiliations
                [ ]Department of Pharmacology and Physiology of the Nervous System, Institute of Psychiatry and Neurology, Sobieskiego 9, 02-957 Warsaw, Poland
                [ ]Institute of Endocrinology, Prague, Czech Republic
                [ ]Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Institute of Psychiatry and Neurology, Warsaw, Poland
                Article
                472
                10.1007/s00787-013-0472-0
                4042015
                24043498
                35be37da-b12d-468b-a336-aef3850ada7d
                © The Author(s) 2013

                Open AccessThis article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits any use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author(s) and the source are credited.

                History
                : 17 February 2013
                : 27 August 2013
                Categories
                Original Contribution
                Custom metadata
                © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2014

                Clinical Psychology & Psychiatry
                autism,children,saliva,steroids,neurosteroids
                Clinical Psychology & Psychiatry
                autism, children, saliva, steroids, neurosteroids

                Comments

                Comment on this article