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Serum levels of Glial fibrillary acidic protein in Chinese children with autism spectrum disorders
Author(s) -
Wang Jingwei,
Zou Qiuyan,
Han Renfeng,
Li Yupeng,
Wang Yulin
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
international journal of developmental neuroscience
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.761
H-Index - 88
eISSN - 1873-474X
pISSN - 0736-5748
DOI - 10.1016/j.ijdevneu.2017.01.004
Subject(s) - glial fibrillary acidic protein , childhood autism rating scale , autism , receiver operating characteristic , gastroenterology , medicine , area under the curve , autism spectrum disorder , psychology , psychiatry , immunohistochemistry
Objective 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. Methods 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. Results The results indicated that the mean serum GFAP level was significantly (P < 0.001) higher in autistic children as compared to controls (1.71 ± 0.53 ng/ml vs . 0.99 ± 0.25 ng/ml). There was a significant positive association between serum GFAP levels and CARS scores (r [Pearson] = 0.390, P = 0.001). Based on the Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve, the optimal cut‐off value of serum GFAP levels as an indicator for auxiliary diagnosis of autism was projected to be 1.28 ng/ml which yielded a sensitivity of 77.3% and a specificity of 88.4%, the area under the curve was 0.895(95%CI, 0.844–0.947). Further, an increased risk of ASD was associated with GFAP levels >1.28 ng/ml (adjusted OR 9.88, 95% CI: 3.32–17.82) in the multivariate logistic analysis model. Conclusion 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.