Study on the level of peripheral serum glial-derived neurotrophic factor in children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder

Abstract

Objective To explore the changes of peripheral serum glial-derived neurotrophic factor(GDNF) levels in children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder(ADHD), and to provide a new marker for early identification of ADHD in clinical practice. Methods Totally 42 drug-naive children with ADHD(ADHD group) and 45 healthy children(HC group) were included. General demographic information, scale scores, and fasting peripheral serum GDNF levels were compared between the two groups. Meanwhile, the correlation between GDNF level and symptom severity score of children with ADHD was analyzed. Results There were significant differences in FSIQ, attention deficit, and hyperactivity/impulsivity scores between ADHD group and HC group(FSIQ(105.26±13.82) vs (114.73±9.93); attention deficit(23.60±5.06) vs (20.04±2.85); hyperactivity/impulsivity(19.43±3.47) vs (15.93±2.42), all P<0.05). Serum level of GDNF in the ADHD patients was significant lower than that in the HC group ((442.52±70.01)pg/ml vs (554.02±101.37)pg/ml, P<0.01). In addition, GDNF levels were negatively correlated with attention deficit scores in children with ADHD (radj=-0.447, P<0.01). More importantly, ROC curve results show that GDNF had good diagnostic value (AUC=0.81). Conclusion GDNF levels decreased child with ADHD.Decreased serum GDNF levels have certain promising value in the diagnosis of ADHD. Key words: Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder; Glial-derived neurotrophic factor; Children