Динамика уровня маркеров повреждения центральной нервной системы при лечении пациентов с аутизмом

Abstract

<p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Objectives. </strong>Studies to identify serologic markers of the nature of protein associated with the development of autism spectrum disorders are relevant for the improvement of diagnostic methods. The relationship between the quantitative content of phosphorylated tau protein and light chains of neurofilaments in the blood of children with autism and changes in the clinical picture of the disease during therapeutic interventions was revealed.</p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Methods. </strong>Children aged from 3 to 12 years with diagnoses: infantile autism — 23 children; impaired psycho-verbal development due to organic brain damage — 34; conditionally healthy children — 15 people were studied. Anamnestic data was collected, an objective examination was conducted, and medical records were analyzed. The study utilized: the Denver Developmental Screening Test, the Childhood Autism Rating Scale (CARS); Human Tau [pT181] phosphoELISA Kit system test (KHO0631, USA), as well as the Human Neurofilament-Light Chain (NFL) ELISA Kit (EiAab, USA) for the quantitative determination of the phosphorylated isoform of tau protein and light chains of neurofilaments in blood samples by enzyme-linked immunoassay. The statistical processing of data was performed using the MannWhitney, Kruskal-Wallis, and Wilcoxon tests. Qualitative features were analyzed using Fisher’s criterion.</p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Results. </strong>When studying the quantitative content of phosphorylated tau protein in the blood plasma and neurofilament light chains in the blood serum over time in 18 patients with autism, a significant decrease in the content of phosphorylated tau protein (p < 0.001, Wilcoxon test) and neurofilament light chains (p = 0.007, Wilcoxon test) was revealed when prescribing pathogenetic treatment with a positive effect from therapy. An example of a clinical case is presented.</p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Conclusions. </strong>It is shown that the determination of the quantitative content of markers of central nervous system damage in blood can be used to assess changes in the functional state of its neuronal and axonal apparatus under the influence of therapy in children with autism. It is possible to further develop the research using the results obtained in the comparison of clinical, neuropsychological and biochemical indicators in assessing the dynamics of the clinical picture of the disease.</p>