Beta-2-Microglobulin in Autism Spectrum Disorders

Judy Van De Water,Joseph Schauer,Paul Ashwood,Paula Goines,Luke Heuer

doi:10.3844/ajbbsp.2007.87.91

Judy Van De Water, Joseph Schauer + Show 3 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3844/ajbbsp.2007.87.91

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Abstract

Autism spectrum disorders (ASD) are heterogeneous neurodevelopmental diseases of unknown etiology. There are no biological markers for ASD and current diagnosis is based on behavioral criteria. Recent data has shown that MHC I, a compound involved in adaptive immune function, is also involved in neurodevelopment, synaptic plasticity and behavior. It has been suggested that altered MHC I expression could play a part in neurodevelopmental diseases like ASD. To address this possibility, we measured plasma levels of beta-2-microglobulin (I²2m), a molecule that associates with MHC I and is indicative of MHC I expression, in 36 children with autism, 28 typically developing controls and subjects with developmental disabilities (n=16) but not autism. The age range of our study population was 17-120 months. We found no statistically significant differences in plasma β2m levels between groups. Therefore, plasma levels of I²2m measured in early childhood in autism may not reflect changes in MHC class I in autism.

Highlights

Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) are a group of neurodevelopmental diseases characterized by a range of social difficulties, deficits in communication and restricted stereotypic behaviors and interests[1, 2]
The sample population consisted of children with early onset autism (AU-EO; n=19, 2 females, 17 males, ages 17-63 months), regressive autism (AU-reg; n=17, 3 females, 14 males, ages 28-60 months), a control group of agematched typically developing children (TD; n=28, 10 females, 18 males, ages 17-120 months) and children with developmental disabilities (DD) without autism (n=16; 5F, 11M, ages 12-54 months)
We found no statistically significant differences in β-2-microglobulin levels between AU, age matched DD (1.312, 0.793-1.943) and age matched TD controls (0.952, 0.826-1.387) (Fig. 1a)

Summary

Introduction

Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) are a group of neurodevelopmental diseases characterized by a range of social difficulties, deficits in communication and restricted stereotypic behaviors and interests[1, 2]. In addition to its immunological functions, recent evidence suggests that MHC I expressed on neuronal cells may be important for brain development and function (reviewed in[18, 20]). It has been shown in several studies that MHC I is crucial for synaptic plasticity in the developing and adult mammalian brain[21,22,23].

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Conclusion