Abstract
BackgroundVitamin D plays an important role in etiology of Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASDs). We aimed to evaluate the serum 25 - hydroxyl vitamin D level among children with ASDs in Ahvaz city, Iran.MethodsIt was a cross-sectional study which had conducted on 62 subjects in two groups: a case group (n = 31) consisted of ASD children who study in especial schools; and a control group (n = 31) of healthy children who were selected by simple random sampling from regular schools in Ahvaz city, Iran during 2016. Maching between two groups has done regarding Socioeconomic status, type and amount of food intake, place of living and age. The levels of serum 25 - hydroxyl vitamin D were assessed in early morning means fasted state and also measured using ELISA method. Data were analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 20. The significant level was considered < 0.05.ResultsIn ASD children, the average serum 25-hydroxyvitamine D level was 9.03 ± 4.14 ng/mg. In ASD group, 96.8% (30 subjects) had vitamin D deficiency. In healthy children group, average serum 25-hydroxyvitamine D level was 15.25 ± 7.89 ng/mg. Average serum 25-hydroxyvitamine D level in intervention group was significantly lower than the control group (P > 0.001). Although the parents of patients in control group reported longer exposure to sun (27.42 m per day against 33.06 m per day), no significant difference was observed between these groups in terms of exposure to sun (P < 0.05).ConclusionsA significant difference was observed between serum 25-hydroxyvitamine D levels between the healthy and ASD children. It is recommended to use vitamin D supplement in children with ASDs under medical care.
Highlights
Vitamin D may play an important role in etiology of Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASDs)
Tests were performed two times and the averaged values were used in the analyses to increase the accuracy of the results. It was a cross-sectional study which had conducted on 62 children in two groups: a case group (n = 31) consisted of ASD children who study in especial schools; and a control group (n = 31) of healthy children were selected from regular schools by using simple random sampling approach in Ahvaz city, Iran; 2016
Most of the subjects in the case and control groups were male (83.9 and 90.3%, respectively) and no significant difference was observed in both groups in terms of gender (P = 0.45)
Summary
Vitamin D may play an important role in etiology of Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASDs). Vitamin D is a neuroactive steroid affecting brain development and function. It plays an essential role in myelination, which is important for connectivity in the brain. Environmental and genetic factors have interaction in the incidence of this disorder [3,4,5]. The results of studies have shown that in disease etiology, risk factors such as prenatal and postnatal infections [6, 7], and exposure to Valproic Acid of alcohol during pregnancy [8, 9], the age of mother [10], and abnormal nutritional and metabolic factors [3] are effective. In. Vitamin D plays an important role in etiology of Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASDs). We aimed to evaluate the serum 25 - hydroxyl vitamin D level among children with ASDs in Ahvaz city, Iran
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