Izvorni znanstveni članak
Abnormal circadian rhythm and cortisol excretion in autistic children: a clinical study
Malarveni Damodaran Lakshmi Priya
; Department of Biochemistry, Bharathi Women’s College, University of Madras, Chennai Tamil Nadu, India
Arumugam Geetha
; Department of Biochemistry, Bharathi Women’s College, University of Madras, Chennai Tamil Nadu, India
Vijayashankar Suganya
; Department of Biochemistry, Bharathi Women’s College, University of Madras, Chennai Tamil Nadu, India
Sridharan Sujatha
; Madras Medical College and Pediatrician Institute of Child Health and Hospital for Children Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India
Sažetak
Aim To determine the circadian rhythm alteration of cortisol
excretion and the level of corticosteroids in children
with different grades of autism severity.
Methods The study included 45 children with different
grades of autism severity (low [LFA], medium [MFA], and
high functioning autism [HFA]), 15 in each group, and 45
age/sex-matched children with typical development. The
urinary levels of free cortisol (at three phases of 24-hour cycle),
corticosteroids, vanilylmandelic acid, and 5-hydroxyindole
acetic acid were determined.
Results Alteration in the pattern of cortisol excretion (Phases
I, II, and III) was observed in children with LFA (Phase I:
43.8 ± 4.43 vs 74.30±8.62, P = 0.000; Phase II: 21.1±2.87 vs
62±7.68, P < 0.001; Phase III: 9.9 ± 1.20 vs 40 ± 5.73, P < 0.001)
and MFA (Phase I: 43.8 ± 4.43 vs 52.6±7.90, P < 0.001; Phase
II: 21.1±2.87 vs 27.4±4.05, P < 0.001; Phase III: 9.9 ± 1.20 vs
19 ± 2.50, P < 0.001) compared to the control group. The
corticosteroids excretion levels were higher in all the
groups of children with autism than in the control group.
The level of 5-hydroxyindole acetic acid was significantly
higher in children with LFA (8.2±1.48 vs 6.8±0.85, P < 0.001)
and MFA (8.2±1.48 vs 7.4± 0.89, P = 0.001) and not significantly
higher in children with HFA than in the control
group. The changes were correlated with degrees of severity
of the disorder.
Conclusion These data suggest that altered cortisol excretion
pattern and high level of corticosteroids in urine may
probably be a consequence of altered hypothalamic-pituitary-
adrenal axis function, which may contribute to the
pathogenesis and affect the severity of autism.
Ključne riječi
Hrčak ID:
102794
URI
Datum izdavanja:
15.2.2013.
Posjeta: 1.286 *