Evaluation of Serum S100B Levels in Male Children Younger than 6 Years Old with Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Psychiatric and Biochemical Perspective

Abstract

Aim: Autism spectrum disorder is a neurodevelopmental disorder. The S100 calcium binding protein B (S100B) is among the markers of astrocyte activation as well as brain damage. Herein, it was aimed to evaluate S100B levels to determine whether there is a relation with the severity of autism spectrum disorder and establish possible causes of different results among the studies in the literature from a psychiatric and biochemical perspective. Material and Methods: Twenty-five male children with autism spectrum disorder were included as the study group along with twenty-seven male children as the control group. The childhood autism rating scale and the autism behavior checklist were applied. Serum S100B protein levels were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Results: The mean serum S100B level was 1008.61±171.34 pg/mL in the study group and 1060.14±182.83 pg/mL in the control group, and no statistically significant difference was found between the groups (p=0.300). Based on the childhood autism rating scale scores, 60% (n=15) of the children with autism spectrum disorder had severe autism, whereas 40% (n=10) had mild-to-moderate autism. There was no significant difference in terms of the serum S100B levels between the groups of autism spectrum disorder severity (p=0.935) or according to the autistic regression status (p=0.667). Conclusion: For S100B to be accepted as a reliable biomarker for autism spectrum disorder, more studies considering some factors with larger samples should be performed. Moreover, to understand the effect of biochemical methodology on the results, further studies are suggested on this subject.