RESUMO
Background: Toxoplasma gondii, is a mandatory intracellular protozoa, that many people worldwide are infected with. In children, the infection enters central nervous system and leads to inflammation of the gray matter. Autism, is a complex developmental disorder, altering social communication, with unknown origin. Neuropathologi-cal changes in autism are the same as those occurred in brain toxoplasmosis
The objective of this survey was to evaluate positive serology of toxoplasma gondii, in autistic children
Methods: This case-control study was done on 3-12 years old children, referring to the neurology and psychiatry sub-special clinics of Baqiyatallah hospital and also autistic children of Omid-e Asr and Navid-e Asr general rehabilitation centers in Tehran, Iran. The study performed at 2012-2013. Forty autistic children were placed in the case group and 40 children, suffering from no neuropsychiatric disease or other ones, were placed in the control group. A folder, containing demographic data, type of the disorder, onset of diagnosis and child characteristics at birth, such as time of birth [preterm/ term] fulfilled for each child. Sampling was done with 5 ml blood, for determining IgM and IgG antibody levels against toxoplasma gondii, using ELISA method. Data analyzed by the software SPSS ver. 17 and descriptive and analytic analysis were done, using central and dispersion indexes and also chi-Square test
Results: The autistic group contained 34 boys and 6 girls [85 and 15 percent respectively], with the average age of 6 [+/-2.71] years old [minimum of 2.33 and maximum of 12]. The average age at the time of diagnosis was 4.01 [+/-1.87] years old. 87. The non-autistic group contained 17 boys and 23 girls [42.5 and 57.5 percent respectively], with the average age of 5.67 [+/-3.09] years old [minimum of two and maximum of 12]. IgM and IgG serology of all autistic children were negative, while in non-autistic group, 2.5 percent (1 child) were positive and 97.5 percent [39 ones] were negative. There were no statistically significant difference among these two groups according to the serology results. [P=0.31]
Conclusion: There was no statistically significant difference in comparing positive serology of toxoplasmosis, between the two groups. However, to obtain a perfect result, a larger sample size are required
RESUMO
Congenital hypothyroidism [CHT] is one of the most common congenital endocrinal disorders. The prevalence of CHT is estimated about 1 in 3,000 newborns. The prevalence, etiology and associated disorders of abnormal thyroid screening tests are reported in different ranges. In this study, we assessed the pre-term newborns for CHT and associated factors that influence thyroid function. One hundred newborns with the gestational age fewer than 35 weeks were investigated. Baseline serum thyroid stimulating hormone [TSH] and free thyroxin [FT4] levels were measured during the first 5 days of life and were repeated during the first 5 weeks. We analyzed the effects of demographic factors and the presence of respiratory distress syndrome on the alteration of thyroid function tests during the first 5 weeks of life. The mean gestational age [GA] at delivery was 32.35 +/- 1.97 [range 28 to 35] weeks. CHT was observed in 13[13%] preterm infants. GA was the only factor which affect the FT4 changes over the two weeks follow-up [P < 0.001, b: -2.783, Power: 70.2%] although the differences between baseline and follow-up amount of TSH were not significantly influenced by GA [P = 0.062, power: 46%]. However, the adjusted TSH and FT4 serum level changes during follow-up were significantly different between two groups [between CHT and normal, P = 0.006, 0.000, respectively]. It seems that thyroid function tests should be repeated in preterm infants, especially for patients with lower gestational age, to confirm the diagnosis of CHT. Also, CHT should be considered among the newborns that are affected by RDS.