title: Serum level of desert hedgehog protein in autism spectrum disorder: preliminary results.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To investigate the role of desert hedgehog (Dhh) in a neurodevelopmental disorder known as autism.
  
  
  METHODS
  This study was conducted at the Autism Research and Treatment Center, King Khalid University Hospital, Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia from October 2011 to May 2012. The serum levels of the Dhh protein in 57 patients recently diagnosed with autism and 37 age-matched healthy children were measured using ELISA. The Childhood Autism Rating Scale (CARS) was used for the assessment of autistic severity.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The mean serum level of Dhh in patients with autism (1.38 ± 0.50 ng/ml) was significantly lower (p = 0.0003) than that of normal controls (1.73 ± 0.37 ng/ml). There was no significant relationship between the serum level of Dhh and the CARS score (p = 0.28), age (p = 0.51) or gender (p = 0.76).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The Dhh serum level of patients with autism was lower than that of controls, probably indicating that the serum level of Dhh might be implicated in the physiology of autism. However, this finding should be treated with caution until further investigations are performed with larger populations.
authors.affiliation: Division of Cognitive Neurology, Berenson-Allen Center for Noninvasive Brain Stimulation, Department of Neurology, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Mass., USA.
authors.forename: Shahid
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Bashir
authors.forename: Dost Muhammad
authors.initials: DM
authors.lastname: Halepoto
authors.forename: Laila
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Al-Ayadhi
mesh_terms: D002648:Child; D002659:Child Development Disorders, Pervasive / Q000097:blood* / Q000378:metabolism; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D005260:Female; D053823:Hedgehog Proteins / Q000097:blood*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D012720:Severity of Illness Index
chemical_list: D053823:Hedgehog Proteins