title: Urinary oxidative stress markers in children with autism.
abstract: Oxidative stress caused by increased production of free radicals and impaired functions of antioxidants remains as the major factor associated with the pathophysiology of many neuropsychiatric diseases.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  The objective of the present study was to analyze  the oxidative stress markers in urine sample since the collection of blood from these children is highly meticulous and also to evaluate whether these urinary markers can be correlated with the severity of autism.
  
  
  METHODS
  The subjects of the study were 45 autistic children  with different grades of severity (low functioning autism (LFA), medium functioning autism (MFA), and high functioning autism (HFA) according to Childhood Autism Rating Scale (CARS), n=15 children in each group and 50 healthy children (age and sex matched). The boys and  girls ratio involved in this study was 4:1, and they were of age 4-12 years. We determined the urinary levels of oxidative stress markers like thiobarbituric acid-reacting substances, lipid hydroperoxides, 4-hydroxy nonenal, protein carbonyls, sulfhydryl groups, total antioxidant capacity,  total peroxide content, oxidative stress index, and also UA/Cr ratio in autistic children.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The study observed a significant elevation in the level of oxidative stress markers in autistic children when compared with normal children. The level of antioxidants excreted  in urine was found to be significantly low in autistic children. These findings when correlated with the degrees of severity, oxidative stress markers showed positive correlation with increasing order of severity (LFA>MFA>HFA), whereas antioxidants showed negative  correlation.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The study reveals that the urinary levels of oxidative stress markers can be considered as the measure of oxidative stress index in autistic children. The significant correlation between the severity of autism with urinary lipid peroxidation products  also support the use of oxidative stress markers and antioxidants as biomarkers of autism.
authors: Department of Biochemistry, Bharathi Women's College, North Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India.
authors: Lakshmi Priya Malarveni
authors: LP
authors: Damodaran
authors: Geetha
authors: G
authors: Arumugam
mesh_terms: D000975:Antioxidants / Q000378:metabolism; D001321:Autistic Disorder / Q000652:urine*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D015227:Lipid Peroxidation / Q000502:physiology; D008054:Lipid Peroxides / Q000652:urine; D008297:Male; D018384:Oxidative Stress / Q000502:physiology*; D017392:Thiobarbituric Acid Reactive Substances / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D000975:Antioxidants; D008054:Lipid Peroxides; D017392:Thiobarbituric Acid Reactive Substances