Study of TGFβ1 in a sample of Egyptian Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder

Abstract

There is an agreement amongst all professionals that ASD is one of the most puzzling diseases. A dramatic rise in inci¬dence of ASDs has occurred in the past 25 years but it is unclear whether this is an indicative of a true increase in incidence of the disorders or due to broader diagnostic criteria and increased awareness. There is a growing consensus among scientists and clinicians that ASDs ensue from an interaction between genetic, immunological and environmental factors. The aim of the present study was to measure the level of TGFβ1 in an Egyptian sample of autistic children comparing them with age and sex matched controls as well as correlating their levels with the clinical outcomes of the disease. This study comprised 74 children. They were classified into two groups. Group I (Autistic patients): It included 42 children diagnosed as having one of the autistic disorders according to the DSM-V (2013) criteria. They were 32 males (76.2%) and 10 females (23.8%). Their ages ranged from 3.6 to 15 years with mean age 6.6, SD ± 2.6 years, and group II (Control group) which included 32 clinically healthy children of comparable age and sex. They were 17 males (53%) and 15 females (47%). Their ages ranged from 3 to 10 years with mean age 5.9, SD ± 1.8 years. To all studied cases, full history, clinical examination, psychiatric evaluation and measurement of plasma level of transforming growth factor beta 1 (TGF-β1) using ELISA technique were done. In the current study several risk factors for autism