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Significant Changes in Plasma Alpha-Synuclein and Beta-Synuclein Levels in Male Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder
Author(s)
Sriwimol, Wilaiwan
Limprasert, Pornprot
Date Issued
January 1, 2018
Type
Article
Abstract
Alpha-synuclein (π-synuclein) and beta-synuclein (β-synuclein) are presynaptic proteins playing important roles in neuronal plasticity and synaptic vesicle regulation. To evaluate the association of these two proteins and autism spectrum disorder (ASD), we investigated the plasma π-synuclein and β-synuclein levels in 39 male children with ASD (2 subgroups: 25 autism and 14 pervasive developmental disorder-not otherwise specified (PDD-NOS)) comparing with 29 sex- and age-matched controls by using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). We first determined the levels of these two proteins in the ASD subgroups and found that there were no significant differences in both plasma π-synuclein and β-synuclein levels in the autism and PDD-NOS groups. Thus, we could combine the 2 subgroups into one ASD group. Interestingly, the mean plasma π-synuclein level was significantly lower (P<0.001) in the ASD children (10.82±6.46 ng/mL) than in the controls (29.47±18.62 ng/mL), while the mean plasma β-synuclein level in the ASD children (1344.19±160.26 ng/mL) was significantly higher (P<0.05) than in the controls (1219.16±177.10 ng/mL). This is the first study examining the associations between π-synuclein and β-synuclein and male ASD patients. We found that alterations in the plasma π-synuclein and β-synuclein levels might be implicated in the association between synaptic abnormalities and ASD pathogenesis.
Citation
Biomed Research International, 2018, 2018