Abstract
Background
The etiology and pathogenic mechanism of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) remain unclear. To provide data on the etiology and biomarkers of ASD, our study evaluated serum lipid levels and nutrition profiles of Chinese children with ASD.
Methods
A total of 32 ASD childrenand 59 healthychildren were enrolled in this study. We assessed thirteen biochemical indicators that reflect serum lipids and nutritional status. Univariate and multivariate analysis, spearman correlation analysis, and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves were used to assess differential indicator between the ASD and control groups and the diagnostic value for ASD.
Results
TG (odds ratio [OR] = 2.187, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.299-3.682), CHOL (OR = 1.808, 95% CI: 1.055-3.097) and ALB (OR = 4.709, 95% CI: 1.294-17.135) were the main factors that led to a diagnosis of ASD. Each of the differential indicators provided significant diagnostic value for ASD, including TG (AUC=0.6504, P=0.0182), CHOL (AUC=0.7055, P=0.0013), and ALB (AUC=0.7587, P<0.0001).
Conclusion
Impaired lipid metabolism may be related to the pathogenesis of ASD. TG, CHOL and ALB were important influencing factors that led to ASD and may be potential biomarkers for early diagnosis and treatment.