Secretagogin [SCGN] plasma levels and their association with cognitive and social behavior in children with autism spectrum disorder [ASD]

Objective: To investigate the secretagogin [SCGN] plasma levels in children with autism spectrum disorder [ASD] compared to age and gender-matched healthy control, and its association with cognitive and social behaviors by using childhood autism rating scale [CARS] and social responsiveness scale [SRS]

Study Design: Case-control study

Place and Duration of Study: Autism Research and Treatment Center, Al-Amodi Autism Research Chair, Department of Physiology, Faculty of Medicine, King Khalid University Hospital, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, from October 2015 to May 2016

Methodology: SCGN levels were determined in the plasma of thirty-seven [37] autistic children using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay [ELISA], categorized as mild-moderate and severe as indicated by their CARS scores and compared with thirty [30] age and gender-matched control samples. Correlation between SCGN levels and different cognitive and social behavior scales [CARS and SRS] was determined by Spearman's correlation coefficient [r]

Results: The results indicated that autistic children [n=37] had significantly [p= 0.005] lower plasma level of SCGN [45.7 [26.2] ng/ml [median [IQR]]] than those of healthy controls [n=30, 70.8 [48.6] ng/ml [median [IQR]]]. Children with severe [n=28, 76%] as well as mild to moderate autism [n=09, 24%] also exhibited significantly lower SCGN levels [47.5 [27] ng/ml [median [IQR]], p =0.014] and [45.7 [16.6] ng/ml [median [IQR]], p = 0.02]], respectively than healthy controls [n=30, 70.8 [48.6] ng/ml [median [IQR]]]. However, there was no significant difference between the SCGN levels of children with mild to moderate and severe autism [p = 0.66]. Spearman's correlation coefficient [r] was used to determine the relationships between SCGN levels and different variables [CARS, SRS]. However, the results showed no significant correlation between SCGN and these scales. [CARS, r=-0.03, p=0.86; SRS, r=0.21, p=0.20]

Conclusion: The low SCGN plasma levels in children with ASD probably indicate that SCGN might be implicated in the pathogenesis of autism. However, these data should be treated with caution until further investigations are performed using larger sample sizes to determine whether the decrease in plasma SCGN levels is a mere consequence of autism or it plays a pathogenic role in the disease

Possible role of brain-derived neurotrophic factor [BDNF] in autism spectrum disorder: current status

Brain-derived neurotrophic factor [BDNF], a member of the neurotrophin family of survival-promoting molecules, plays a vital role in the growth, development, maintenance, and function of several neuronal systems. The purpose of this review is to document the support for the involvement of this molecule in the maintenance of normal cognitive, emotional functioning, and to outline recent developments in the content of Autism spectrum disorder [ASD]. Current and future treatment development can be guided by developing understanding of this molecule's actions in the brain and the ways the expression of BDNF can be planned. Over the years, research findings suggested a critical role played by BDNF in the development of autism including increased serum concentrations of BDNF in children with autism and identification of different forms of BDNF in families of autistic individuals.

Role of proteomics in the discovery of autism biomarkers

The epidemiology of autism is continuously increasing all over the world with social, behavioural and economical burdens. Autism is considered as a multi-factorial disorder, influenced by genetic, neurological, environmental and immunological aspects. Autism is still believed to be incurable disorder with little information about the role of proteins patterns in the diagnosis of the disease. Knowing the applications of proteomic tools, it is possible to identify quantitative and qualitative protein patterns in a wide variety of tissues and body fluids such as blood, urine, saliva and cerebrospinal fluid in order to establish specific diagnostic and prognostic biomarkers. The aim of this review is to provide an overview of the various protocols available for proteomics by using mass spectrometry analysis, discuss reports in which these techniques have been previously applied in biomarker discovery for the diagnosis of autism, and consider the future development of this area of research