Serum levels of P-selectin in men with high-functioning autism

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Br J Psychiatry. 2008 Oct;193(4):338-9. Links

Serum levels of P-selectin in men with high-functioning autism.Iwata Y,

Tsuchiya KJ, Mikawa S, Nakamura K, Takai Y, Suda S, Sekine Y, Suzuki K,

Kawai M, Sugihara G, Matsuzaki H, Hashimoto K, Tsujii M, Sugiyama T,

Takei N, Mori N.

Hamamatsu University School of Medicine, Hamamatsu, Shizuoka, Japan.

Immune dysfunction has been proposed as a mechanism for the

pathophysiology of autistic-spectrum disorders. The selectin family of

adhesion molecules plays a prominent role in immune/inflammatory

responses. We determined the serum levels of three types of soluble-

form selectin (sP, sL and sE) in 15 men with high-functioning autism

and 22 age-matched healthy controls by enzyme-linked immunosorbent

assay. Levels of sP-selectin and sL-selectin were significantly lower

in patients than in controls. Furthermore, sP-selectin levels were

negatively correlated with impaired social development during early

childhood.