Altered urinary porphyrins and mercury exposure as biomarkers for autism severity in Egyptian children with autism spectrum disorder.

Author: Khaled EM, Meguid NA, Bjørklund G, Gouda A, Bahary MH, Hashish A, Sallam NM, Chirumbolo S, El-Bana MA.

Source: Metabolic Brain Disease.

Year: 2016

Comment:

Abstract / Excerpt:

Mothers of ASD children showed a higher percentage of dental amalgam restorations compared to the mothers of healthy controls suggesting that high Hg levels in children with ASD may relate to the increased exposure to Hg from maternal dental amalgam during pregnancy and lactation. The results showed that the ASD children in the present study had increased blood Hg and Pb levels compared with healthy control children indicating that disordered porphyrin metabolism might interfere with the pathology associated with the autistic neurologic phenotype. The present study indicates that coproporphyrin and precoproporhyrin may be utilized as possible biomarkers for heavy metal exposure and autism severity in children with ASD.

Citation: Khaled EM, Meguid NA, Bjørklund G, Gouda A, Bahary MH, Hashish A, Sallam NM, Chirumbolo S, El-Bana MA. Altered urinary porphyrins and mercury exposure as biomarkers for autism severity in Egyptian children with autism spectrum disorder. Metabolic Brain Disease. 2016; 31(6):1419-26.