De novo Blood Biomarkers in Autism: Autoantibodies against Neuronal and Glial Proteins.
Abstract
Autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) are the most common neurodevelopmental disorders
with unidentified etiology. The behavioral manifestations of ASD may be a consequence
of genetic and/or environmental pathology in neurodevelopmental processes. In this
limited study, we assayed autoantibodies to a panel of vital neuronal and glial proteins
in the sera of 40 subjects (10 children with ASD and their mothers along with 10 healthy
controls, age-matched children and their mothers). Serum samples were screened using
Western Blot analysis to measure immunoglobulin (IgG) reactivity against a panel of
9 neuronal proteins commonly associated with neuronal degeneration: neurofilament
triplet proteins (NFP), tubulin, microtubule-associated proteins (tau), microtubule-associated
protein-2 (MAP-2), myelin basic protein (MBP), myelin-associated glycoprotein (MAG),
α-synuclein (SNCA) and astrocytes proteins such as glial fibrillary acidic protein
(GFAP) and S100B protein. Our data show that the levels of circulating IgG class autoantibodies
against the nine proteins were significantly elevated in ASD children. Mothers of
ASD children exhibited increased levels of autoantibodies against all panel of tested
proteins except for S100B and tubulin compared to age-matched healthy control children
and their mothers. Control children and their mothers showed low and insignificant
levels of autoantibodies to neuronal and glial proteins. These results strongly support
the importance of anti-neuronal and glial protein autoantibodies biomarker in screening
for ASD children and further confirm the importance of the involvement of the maternal
immune system as an index that should be considered in fetal in utero environmental
exposures. More studies are needed using larger cohort to verify these results and
understand the importance of the presence of such autoantibodies in children with
autism and their mothers, both as biomarkers and their role in the mechanism of action
of autism and perhaps in its treatment.
Type
Journal articleSubject
Autism Spectrum DisorderControl children
autoimmune disorder
maternal autoantibodies
neuronal and astroglial biomarkers
neuronal autoantibodies
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https://hdl.handle.net/10161/20282Published Version (Please cite this version)
10.3390/bs9050047Publication Info
Abou-Donia, Mohamed B; Suliman, Hagir B; Siniscalco, Dario; Antonucci, Nicola; & ElKafrawy,
Passent (2019). De novo Blood Biomarkers in Autism: Autoantibodies against Neuronal and Glial Proteins.
Behavioral sciences (Basel, Switzerland), 9(5). pp. 47-47. 10.3390/bs9050047. Retrieved from https://hdl.handle.net/10161/20282.This is constructed from limited available data and may be imprecise. To cite this
article, please review & use the official citation provided by the journal.
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Show full item recordScholars@Duke
Mohamed Bahie Abou-Donia
Professor of Pharmacology and Cancer Biology
The overall research program in this laboratory is directed toward understanding the
basic mechanisms by which chemicals adversely affect the nervous system. This should
lead to a better assessment of acute and chronic neurotoxicities and the development
of drugs to prevent or treat them. We are primarily concerned with neurotoxicants
that produce Wallerian-type degeneration of the axon and myelin of the central and
peripheral nervous systems. These chemicals include antiesterase organop
This author no longer has a Scholars@Duke profile, so the information shown here reflects
their Duke status at the time this item was deposited.
Hagir B. Suliman
Associate Professor in Anesthesiology
Dr. Suliman is an expert in the molecular and cell biology of mammalian diseases,
particularly in the molecular regulation of oxidant inflammatory responses in the
heart and lung. She has a strong interest and expertise in the transcriptional control
of cell metabolism, especially mitochondrial biogenesis and mitochondrial-mediated
apoptosis and necrosis. Her recent publications have focused on the redox-regulation
of nuclear transcription factors involved in both mitochondrial biogenesis and
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