Concentrations of magnesium, calcium, iron, selenium, zinc and copper in the hair of autistic children

摘要

Autism is a neurodevelopment disorder, involving a wide variety of socio-behavioral, linguistic and perceptuomotor abnormalities. Some studies report a decrease of nutritional trace elements in the hair of autistic children compared with healthy controls; moreover, bioelements have been shown to play an important role in the central nervous system. Therefore the purpose of this study was to examine whether the levels of magnesium, calcium, iron, selenium, zinc and copper in the hair of autistic children significantly differed from the levels observed in healthy peers. The participants of the study were 56 children (10 girls and 46 boys) with the autistic spectrum disorder or childhood-onset pervasive disorder (autistic-like) and 48 healthy children (21 girls and 26 boys), aged 4.8 ? 2.4 years. In all these children, the concentrations of mentioned bioelements were measured using ICP (inductively coupled plasma). We observed significantly lower levels of iron (9.02 ? 4.62 mug/g) and a higher level of selenium (0.33 ? 0.18 ug/g) in the hair of autistic children compared to the healthy age-matched subjects. The lowest concentrations of iron were observed in autistic boys, which was statistically significantly different from autistic girls and healthy boys, (p < = 0.01). Autistic girls were observed to have a lower concentration of magnesium and copper compared to healthy girls, which had the highest concentrations of these elements. No differences in calcium and zinc concentrations were observed among the groups. Although it is difficult to confirm explicitly the influence of disrupted metabolism of elements as a factor in autism etiopathogenesis, it seems necessary to control the supply and the content of basic elements in autistic patients.