A potential role for the adrenal gland in autism

Abstract Androgens have been implicated in autism pathophysiology as recently, prenatal exposure to elevated androgens has been proposed as risk factor. However, published data on postnatal sex hormone levels in autistic children are controversial and the source of prenatal androgen exposure in auti...

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Autores principales:	Felwah S. Al-Zaid, Abdel Fattah A. Alhader, Laila Y. Al-Ayadhi
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	Nature Portfolio 2021
Materias:	Medicine R Science Q
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/1da6e0c3824a40069717649dd90e22df
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spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:1da6e0c3824a40069717649dd90e22df2021-12-02T19:12:35ZA potential role for the adrenal gland in autism10.1038/s41598-021-97266-82045-2322https://doaj.org/article/1da6e0c3824a40069717649dd90e22df2021-09-01T00:00:00Zhttps://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-97266-8https://doaj.org/toc/2045-2322Abstract Androgens have been implicated in autism pathophysiology as recently, prenatal exposure to elevated androgens has been proposed as risk factor. However, published data on postnatal sex hormone levels in autistic children are controversial and the source of prenatal androgen exposure in autism remains unknown. Therefore, this study investigated postnatal sex hormone levels and dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) to shed light on a potential role for the adrenal gland in autism pathophysiology. A case-control study investigating estradiol (E2), DHEA, follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) and luteinizing hormone (LH) levels was conducted with 31 Saudi males with autism and 28 healthy, age-matched boys plasma. Moreover, correlation analysis with measured hormones and previously measured total testosterone (TT) and free testosterone (FT) in the same group of autism was conducted. DHEA was significantly higher (p < 0.05) in the autism group compared to controls. DHEA positively correlated with previously measured TT (r = + 0.79, p < 0.001) and FT (r = + 0.72, p < 0.001) levels in the same autism group. FSH levels were also significantly higher in the autism group than in the control group (p < 0.01). To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study to report a strong positive correlation between TT, FT and DHEA, suggesting an adrenal source for elevated androgen levels.Felwah S. Al-ZaidAbdel Fattah A. AlhaderLaila Y. Al-AyadhiNature PortfolioarticleMedicineRScienceQENScientific Reports, Vol 11, Iss 1, Pp 1-7 (2021)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	Medicine R Science Q
spellingShingle	Medicine R Science Q Felwah S. Al-Zaid Abdel Fattah A. Alhader Laila Y. Al-Ayadhi A potential role for the adrenal gland in autism
description	Abstract Androgens have been implicated in autism pathophysiology as recently, prenatal exposure to elevated androgens has been proposed as risk factor. However, published data on postnatal sex hormone levels in autistic children are controversial and the source of prenatal androgen exposure in autism remains unknown. Therefore, this study investigated postnatal sex hormone levels and dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) to shed light on a potential role for the adrenal gland in autism pathophysiology. A case-control study investigating estradiol (E2), DHEA, follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) and luteinizing hormone (LH) levels was conducted with 31 Saudi males with autism and 28 healthy, age-matched boys plasma. Moreover, correlation analysis with measured hormones and previously measured total testosterone (TT) and free testosterone (FT) in the same group of autism was conducted. DHEA was significantly higher (p < 0.05) in the autism group compared to controls. DHEA positively correlated with previously measured TT (r = + 0.79, p < 0.001) and FT (r = + 0.72, p < 0.001) levels in the same autism group. FSH levels were also significantly higher in the autism group than in the control group (p < 0.01). To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study to report a strong positive correlation between TT, FT and DHEA, suggesting an adrenal source for elevated androgen levels.
format	article
author	Felwah S. Al-Zaid Abdel Fattah A. Alhader Laila Y. Al-Ayadhi
author_facet	Felwah S. Al-Zaid Abdel Fattah A. Alhader Laila Y. Al-Ayadhi
author_sort	Felwah S. Al-Zaid
title	A potential role for the adrenal gland in autism
title_short	A potential role for the adrenal gland in autism
title_full	A potential role for the adrenal gland in autism
title_fullStr	A potential role for the adrenal gland in autism
title_full_unstemmed	A potential role for the adrenal gland in autism
title_sort	potential role for the adrenal gland in autism
publisher	Nature Portfolio
publishDate	2021
url	https://doaj.org/article/1da6e0c3824a40069717649dd90e22df
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A potential role for the adrenal gland in autism

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