Assessment of brain-derived neurotrophic factor levels in serum of children with autism spectrum disorders

The autism spectrum disorder (ASD) has no identified biomarker for early detection or for its severity. As for the brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), it is a crucial neurotropic factor that regulates the plasticity and maturing of neuronal synapses. Accordingly, it might influence how children with autism develop.

To evaluate the BDNF serum levels in autistic children and their relationship with the illness severity as well as with the common drugs received by autistic patients, 60 patients with autism along with another 60 normally developing children were involved in the study. Using the Childhood Autism Rating Scale (CARS), the severity of autism was then evaluated. The ELISA method was used to measure the BDNF level.

It was seen that the BDNF concentrations were higher in autism patients (P < 0.001). There was also a highly strong positive association between the CARS score and the BDNF (P < 0.001). Using the cut-off value of > 2.8 of BDNF helped to distinguish between well-developing and autistic children, with the aspects of “sensitivity” and “specificity” being 88.3% and 80%, respectively. Moreover, children with autism who received omega-3 had statistically lower levels of BDNF than those who did not take any (P = 0.040).

The serum BDNF concentration is higher in autism; this proposes that the BDNF may contribute to the onset or progress of autism. Therefore, it may be used as a noninvasive biomarker for the illness severity because of its greater occurrence in autistic children who have severe social impairment.