Serum levels of Glial fibrillary acidic protein in Chinese children with autism spectrum disorders

• Published in: International journal of developmental neuroscience 2017-04, Vol.57 (1), p.41-45
• Main Authors: Wang, Jingwei, Zou, Qiuyan, Han, Renfeng, Li, Yupeng, Wang, Yulin
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Age; Asian Continental Ancestry Group; Autism; Autism Spectrum Disorder - blood; Autism Spectrum Disorder - ethnology; Autism spectrum disorders; Case-Control Studies; Child; Child, Preschool; Children; Childrens health; Chinese; Disorders; Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay; Female; Gender; Glial fibrillary acidic protein; Glial Fibrillary Acidic Protein - blood; Humans; Male; Medical diagnosis; Neurological diseases; Neuronal-glial interactions; Proteins; ROC Curve; Serum levels; Severity of Illness Index; Statistics as Topic
• ISSN: 0736-5748; 1873-474X
• DOI: 10.1016/j.ijdevneu.2017.01.004

•GFAP has been shown to be elevated in cerebrospinal fluid of children with autism.•Mean GFAP level was significantly higher in autistic children as compared to controls (1.71±0.53ng/ml vs. 0.99±0.25ng/ml).•Serum GFAP levels >1.28ng/ml was associated with a 9.88-fold increase risk in autism.•The data indicates that increased GFAP could be implicated in the pathophysiology of autism. Glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) has been studied in many neurological diseases. The purpose of this study is to investigate the potential role of GFAP in Chinese children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) by measuring serum circulating levels of GFAP and comparing them with age and gender-matched typical development children. A total of one hundred and fifty 2–6 years old Chinese children (75 confirmed autism cases and 75 their age-gender matched typical development children) participated in this study. Serum levels of GFAP were assayed with enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay methods, and severity of ASD was evaluated with the Childhood Autism Rating Scale (CARS) Score. The results indicated that the mean serum GFAP level was significantly (P1.28ng/ml (adjusted OR 9.88, 95% CI: 3.32–17.82) in the multivariate logistic analysis model. The data indicates that serum GFAP levels may be associated with severity of ASD among Chinese children, suggesting the hypothesis that increased serum levels of GFAP could be implicated in the pathophysiology of autism in Chinese children.