DEHB ve otizm spektrum bozukluğu olan çocuklarda serum ürotensin-II düzeylerinin değerlendirilmesi

Objective: Urotensin-II (U-II) is one of the most vasoconstrictive substrates for the mammals. Lately, this substrate is thought to be responsible for developing of the neuropsychiatric disorders, by causing an abnormal brain bloodstream situation. Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) are frequently seen disorders in childhood and their etiologies are remain unclear. This study evaluated the serum urotensin-II levels of children with ASD and ADHD and compared with healthy subjects' urotensin-II levels. Methods: Total of 179 children between age of 4-12, 60 of them diagnosed with ADHD and 60 of children with ASD, according to the DSM-5 criteria and both had no treatment for at least a month and 59 of healthy subjects whom they all admitted to the Ankara Pediatric Hematology-Oncology Training and Research Hospital were included. Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia for School-Age Children, a semi-structured interview, was applied to all subjects. Venous samples of the participants were given after a-12 hours starvation. Serum U-II levels were analyzed by the use of ELISA kits. SPSS 16.0 was used for analysis and p<0.05 was accepted as significance level. Results: U-II levels of children with ASD were found higher than that of ADHD and healthy groups. There was also a positive correlation between U-II levels and autism behavior checklist scores. Discussion: Higher U-II levels and its levels' correlation with symptom severity of disorder are thought to be a responsible factor that could play a role in ASD etiology. Further studies with larger sample size could be useful to investigate the role of UII in the etiology and treatment research of AS

Serum nerve growth factor (NGF) levels in children with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)

WOS: 000331022700022PubMed: 24361544Attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is the most commonly diagnosed neurobehavioral disorder of childhood. The etiopathogeny of ADHD has not been totally defined. Recent reports have suggested a pathophysiological role of neurotrophins in ADHD. In this study, we evaluated serum levels of nerve growth factor (NGF) in patients with ADHD. The sample population consisted of 44 child or adolescent patients diagnosed with ADHD according to DSM-IV criteria; 36 healthy subjects were included in the study as controls. Venous blood samples were collected, and NGF levels were measured. The mean serum NGF levels of the ADHD patients were significantly higher than those of the controls. Age and gender of the patients were not correlated with serum NGF levels. There were no significant differences in NGF levels among the combined and predominantly inattentive subtypes of ADHD. Our study suggests that there are higher levels of serum NGF in drug naive ADHD patients, and that increased levels of NGF might have an important role in the pathophysiology of ADHD