Objective

We aimed to assess serum neurofilament light chain (sNfL) levels in autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and to investigate whether they are related to the severity of disease.

Methods

The cohorts consisted of 166 children aged 3–8 (83 children diagnosed with ASD and 83 children with typically-developing). sNfL were analyzed using Single Molecule Array (Simoa) technology. ASD symptom severity was assessed according to the Chinese version of the Childhood Autism Rating Scale (CARS) score.

Results

The mean age of those included ASD was 5.1 years (standard deviations [S.D.]: 1.7) and 78.3 % were boys. The mean (SD) sNfL concentrations were significantly (P < 0.001) higher in ASD than in TP children (10.2[5.0] pg/mL and 7.1[3.2]pg/mL). For each 1 pg/mL increase of sNfL, the risk of ASD would increase by 19 % (with the OR _unadjusted of 1.19 [95 % CI 1.10–1.29], P < 0.001) and 11 % (with the OR _adjusted of 1.11 [1.03–1.23], P < 0.001), respectively. sNfL concentrations in children with severe ASD were higher than in those children with mild-to-moderate ASD (12.4[5.1] pg/mL vs. 8.3[4.2]pg/mL; P < 0.001). Among ASD cases, each 1 pg/mL increase of sNfL is associated with 20 % higher unadjusted or 11 % higher adjusted odds, respectively, of severe (vs. mild-to-moderate) ASD.

Conclusions

The data showed that sNfL was elevated in ASD and related to symptom severity, suggesting that sNfL may play a role in ASD progression.

中文翻译：

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儿童自闭症谱系障碍患者血清神经丝轻链升高：病例对照研究。

目的

我们旨在评估自闭症谱系障碍（ASD）中的血清神经丝轻链（sNfL）水平，并调查它们是否与疾病的严重程度有关。

方法

队列包括166名3-8岁的儿童（83名被诊断为ASD的儿童和83名典型发育的儿童）。使用单分子阵列（Simoa）技术分析sNfL。根据儿童自闭症评分量表（CARS）分数的中文版本评估ASD症状严重程度。

结果

包括ASD的患者的平均年龄为5.1岁（标准差[SD]：1.7），男孩为78.3％。ASD的平均（SD）sNfL浓度明显高于TP儿童（10.2 [5.0] pg / mL和7.1 [3.2] pg / mL）（P <0.001）。sNfL每增加1 pg / mL，ASD的风险就会增加19％（OR值_未调整为1.19 [95％CI 1.10-1.29]，P <0.001）和11％（OR值_调整为1.11 [ 1.03–1.23]，P <0.001）。患有重度ASD的儿童的sNfL浓度高于轻度至中度ASD的儿童（12.4 [5.1] pg / mL vs. 8.3 [4.2] pg / mL； P <0.001）。在ASD病例中，sNfL的每增加1 pg / mL，分别对应于严重（相对于轻度至中度）ASD的未经调整的机率增加20％或调整的机率增加11％。

结论

数据显示sNfL在ASD中升高，并且与症状严重程度有关，这表明sNfL可能在ASD进程中起作用。