Decreased levels of alpha synuclein in families with autism spectrum disorder and relationship between the disease severity.

Karaca M., Tahtasakal R., Dana H., Sahin M., Pirencioglu S. N., Tughan E., ...More

Brain research, vol.1814, pp.148410, 2023 (SCI-Expanded) identifier identifier identifier

  • Publication Type: Article / Article
  • Volume: 1814
  • Publication Date: 2023
  • Doi Number: 10.1016/j.brainres.2023.148410
  • Journal Name: Brain research
  • Journal Indexes: Science Citation Index Expanded (SCI-EXPANDED), Scopus, Academic Search Premier, PASCAL, Animal Behavior Abstracts, Aquatic Science & Fisheries Abstracts (ASFA), BIOSIS, CAB Abstracts, Chemical Abstracts Core, EMBASE, Linguistics & Language Behavior Abstracts, MEDLINE, Psycinfo, Veterinary Science Database
  • Page Numbers: pp.148410
  • Erciyes University Affiliated: Yes

Abstract

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a heterogeneous neurodevelopmental disorders that begin in early childhood. Mutations in a-synuclein (SNCA) gene have been shown to result in the accumulation of a-synuclein, which occurs in many neurodegenerative diseases. Our aim was to determine the changes in the expression profile and protein level of this gene by comparing the autistic children with their healthy siblings, their mothers and healthy controls in order to elucidate the possible contribution of the SNCA gene to the etiology of ASD. 50 autistic patients, their mothers, siblings and 25 healthy controls and their mothers were enrolled to determine SNCA gene expression and serum a-synuclein levels. It was determined that a-synuclein serum levels decreased in the autistic patients. Similarly, it was found that SNCA gene expression and serum a-synuclein levels were significantly decreased in the mothers of the patients. Significant negative correlation was observed between the SNCA gene and protein expression amounts in the 6-8 age of the patients. This family-based study is the first in the literature, with both gene expression and serum levels of a-synuclein. The relationship between ASD severity and a-synuclein level needs to be confirmed in larger-scale studies.