Ghada Al-Kafaji
Arabian Gulf University, Bahrain
Title: Investigation of serum levels of leptin, ghrelin and growth hormone in Bahraini children with autism
Biography
Biography: Ghada Al-Kafaji
Abstract
Autism is a complex neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by deficits in social communication and/ or interaction and repetitive patterns of behaviour, associated with different levels of cognitive impairments. The exact cause and the pathogenicity of autism are still poorly understood. Recent studies suggest that peptide hormones which act as neurotransmitters on neurological systems may be implicated in the pathogenicity of autism.
In this investigation, we measured serum levels of leptin, ghrelin, and growth hormone (GH) in 40 age-matched Bahraini children, 20 with autism (16 males and 4 females) and 20 healthy children (13 males and 7 females) using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay method.
Leptin levels were found to be significantly higher in children with autism (78.05±17.99) than in healthy control children (19.96±11.20), (P=0.038). Conversely, ghrelin levels were lower in children with autism (62.40±16.98) than in controls (91.50±36.30), however, without reaching statistical significance (P=0.32). Similarly, GH levels were lower in children with autism (0.63±0.02) than in controls (0.72±0.09) but didn't reach statistical significance (P=0.33).
Multivariate regression analysis confirmed a direct association between higher leptin levels and autism incidence (OR: 0.896, 95% CI: 0.816-0.984, P=0.021), and this association remained significant after adjustment for age, sex and body mass index (OR: 0.800, 95% CI: 0.669-0.956, P=0.014).
The significantly higher levels of leptin in autistic children may suggest an important role of this hormone in the pathophysiology of autism. While the levels of ghrelin and GH seemed to be low in autistic children, both were not significantly different than in controls. These initial findings were based on a small group of children and further validation studies with a larger sample size are required to clarify the relation of these hormones with autism