Evaluation of Serum S100B Levels in Male Children Younger than 6 Years Old with Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Psychiatric and Biochemical Perspective

Abstract

Aim: Autism spectrum disorder is a neurodevelopmental disorder. The S100 calcium binding protein B (S100B) is among the markers of astrocyte activation as well as brain damage. Herein, it was aimed to evaluate S100B levels to determine whether there is a relation with the severity of autism spectrum disorder and establish possible causes of different results among the studies in the literature from a psychiatric and biochemical perspective. Material and Methods: Twenty-five male children with autism spectrum disorder were included as the study group along with twenty-seven male children as the control group. The childhood autism rating scale and the autism behavior checklist were applied. Serum S100B protein levels were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Results:The mean serum S100B level was 1008.61±171.34 pg/mL in the study group and 1060.14±182.83 pg/mL in the control group, and no statistically significant difference was found between the groups (p=0.300). Based on the childhood autism rating scale scores, 60% (n=15) of the children with autism spectrum disorder had severe autism, whereas 40% (n=10) had mild-to-moderate autism. There was no significant difference in terms of the serum S100B levels between the groups of autism spectrum disorder severity (p=0.935) or according to the autistic regression status (p=0.667). Conclusion: For S100B to be accepted as a reliable biomarker for autism spectrum disorder, more studies considering some factors with larger samples should be performed. Moreover, to understand the effect of biochemical methodology on the results, further studies are suggested on this subject.

Peripheral S100B Protein Levels in Five Major Psychiatric Disorders: A Systematic Review

“…Higher S100B levels in children with severe ASD than in mild-to-moderate autism were detected [ 103 , 106 ]. No correlation of S100B levels with severe symptoms of ASD was seen in studies using the Childhood Autism Rating Scale (CARS) [ 104 , 107 , 108 ].…”

“…In BD, studies are conducted in manic [ 62 , 93 , 94 , 95 , 96 ] or depressive episodes [ 77 , 97 , 98 ], as well as in euthymia [ 71 , 99 , 100 , 101 , 102 ], also with inconsistent results; however, a recent meta-analysis confirmed increased S100B levels in bipolar disorder [ 120 ]. In ASD, elevation [ 103 , 104 , 105 , 106 ], no differences [ 107 , 108 , 109 , 110 ] in S100B levels were reported, and parallel results were found in ADHD studies (no differences [ 113 , 114 , 115 ] or higher [ 116 , 117 ] S100B levels in patient groups), though in ADHD, three out of five publications were performed on the same group, analyzing different clinical aspects [ 113 , 114 , 115 ].…”

“…Elevation in peripheral S100B levels in autistic children compared to healthy controls have been reported by several studies [103][104][105][106], while others found no differences between ASD children and healthy controls in S100B levels [107][108][109][110]. Tunca et al ( 2022) compared ASD patients with healthy controls and autistic children receiving the Pervasive Developmental Disorders Supportive Training Program (ASD-NPI-individualized educational program).…”