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| Egypt J Pediatr Allergy Immunol |
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2009 |
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7 |
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79-86 |
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ESP - 52 |
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| Serum levels of macrophage migration inhibitory factor in children and
adolescents with autistic disorders |
| Hoda Yahya Tamoum |
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Iman M. Aly Hassan |
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| Background: There is growing awareness of an immunological involvement
in children with autistic disorder (AD). Studies suggest that innate rather
than adaptive neuroimmune responses are associated with autism.
Macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF), being an upstream regulator
of innate and adaptive immunity, could play a role in this disorder.
Objective: We aimed to study serum levels of MIF in a subset of children
with autism and its relation to disease severity and important clinical
manifestations of the disease.
Methods: The study included 21 children and adolescents diagnosed with
AD with a mean age of 6.9± 2.9 years. Patients were neurologically
evaluated and categorized into those with mild to moderate autism and those
with severe disorder. In addition to assessment of cognitive abilities and
electroencephalogram performance, MIF levels were measured in the sera
of included patients and were compared to those of a matched control
group.
Results: Levels of MIF were not significantly different in the patients and
the control group. However, serum MIF was significantly reduced in
patients with severe AD (z=2.197, P=0.029) compared to those with milder
disease. Furthermore, there was a significant negative correlation between
MIF levels and the degree of severity of the non-verbal communicative skills
(r= -0.49, P=0.042). MIF levels were not different in patients with mental
retardation, or abnormal electroencephalogram when compared to the rest
of the patients.
Conclusion: Our study suggests the presence of immune dysfunction in the
form of derangement in serum MIF levels in children with AD. Its levels
were specifically decreased in a subset of patients with severe disorder
compared to those with mild to moderate disease. Decreased serum levels of
MIF in patients with AD seem to be associated with worsening of the nonverbal
communicative skills which is one of the disturbed behavioral
parameters of AD. Further research is warranted to study the precise
relationship of immune derangement and both the etiopathogenesis and the
behavioral components of AD and its therapeutic implications. |
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