Skip to content

Study · Measured the body's own peptide · 2023

1 result

A comparison between children and adolescents with autism spectrum disorders and healthy controls in biomedical factors, trace elements, and microbiota biomarkers: a meta-analysis.

Lin P, Zhang Q, Sun J, Li Q, Li D, Zhu M, Fu X, Zhao L, Wang M, Lou X, Chen Q, Liang K and 11 more

Show all authors

Zhu Y, Qu C, Li Z, Ma P, Wang R, Liu H, Dong K, Guo X, Cheng X, Sun Y, Sun J

Frontiers in psychiatry9 Jan 2024Cited by 18 (Europe PMC)

PMID38283894 (opens in a new tab)PMCIDPMC10813399 (opens in a new tab)DOI10.3389/fpsyt.2023.1318637 (opens in a new tab)PepBankPUB-38283894
Download PDFPubMedAsk about this study
Jump to 1 result

Summary

IntroductionAutism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a multifaceted developmental condition that commonly appears during early childhood. The etiology of ASD remains multifactorial and not yet fully understood. The identification of biomarkers may provide insights into the underlying mechanisms and pathophysiology of the disorder. The present study aimed to explore the causes of ASD by investigating the key biomedical markers, trace elements, and microbiota factors between children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and control subjects.MethodsMedline, PubMed, ProQuest, EMBASE, Cochrane Library, PsycINFO, Web of Science, and EMBSCO databases have been searched for publications from 2012 to 2023 with no language restrictions using the population, intervention, control, and outcome (PICO) approach. Keywords including "autism spectrum disorder," "oxytocin," "GABA," "Serotonin," "CRP," "IL-6," "Fe," "Zn," "Cu," and "gut microbiota" were used for the search. The Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI) critical appraisal checklist was used to assess the article quality, and a random model was used to assess the mean difference and standardized difference between ASD and the control group in all biomedical markers, trace elements, and microbiota factors.ResultsFrom 76,217 records, 43 studies met the inclusion and exclusion criteria and were included in this meta-analysis. The pooled analyses showed that children with ASD had significantly lower levels of oxytocin (mean differences, MD = -45.691, 95% confidence interval, CI: -61.667, -29.717), iron (MD = -3.203, 95% CI: -4.891, -1.514), and zinc (MD = -6.707, 95% CI: -12.691, -0.722), lower relative abundance of Bifidobacterium (MD = -1.321, 95% CI: -2.403, -0.238) and Parabacteroides (MD = -0.081, 95% CI: -0.148, -0.013), higher levels of c-reactive protein, CRP (MD = 0.401, 95% CI: 0.036, 0.772), and GABA (MD = 0.115, 95% CI: 0.045, 0.186), and higher relative abundance of Bacteroides (MD = 1.386, 95% CI: 0.717, 2.055) and Clostridium (MD = 0.281, 95% CI: 0.035, 0.526) when compared with controls. The results of the overall analyses were stable after performing the sensitivity analyses. Additionally, no substantial publication bias was observed among the studies.InterpretationChildren with ASD have significantly higher levels of CRP and GABA, lower levels of oxytocin, iron, and zinc, lower relative abundance of Bifidobacterium and Parabacteroides, and higher relative abundance of Faecalibacterium, Bacteroides, and Clostridium when compared with controls. These results suggest that these indicators may be a potential biomarker panel for the diagnosis or determining therapeutic targets of ASD. Furthermore, large, sample-based, and randomized controlled trials are needed to confirm these results.
CC BYText from Europe PMC. Highlighted sentences are the source of results.

Results from this study1

No result from this study comes from a test of the peptide.

Natural levels measured1

These results measure the body's own peptide. Nobody was given the peptide. They are not evidence about taking it. They are left out of key results, evidence counts and charts.

  1. 01HumanEndogenous levelSystematic reviewOther

    In a meta-analysis, children and adolescents with autism spectrum disorder had significantly lower levels of the body's own oxytocin than controls.

    In plain wordsChildren with autism had lower natural oxytocin levels than children without autism, according to a meta-analysis. Oxytocin was not given.

    Peptide
    Oxytocin
    Outcome
    DecreaseOxytocin level in ASD versus controls
    Study

    n: not reported in source

    Comparator
    Healthy controls
    Outcome group
    Sex hormones and fertility · Nervous system and cognition

    Measurements

    Mean difference
    −45.691
    children with ASD versus controls

    Source sentences

    Summary
    children with ASD had significantly lower levels of oxytocin (mean differences, MD = -45.691, 95% confidence interval, CI: -61.667, -29.717)
    1 context sentence
    Summary · context
    From 76,217 records, 43 studies met the inclusion and exclusion criteria and were included in this meta-analysis.

    This result measures the body's own Oxytocin. Nobody was given the peptide. It is not evidence about taking it.

AI wrote and checked these results. AI can make mistakes, so check important results against the source.

Version history

PepBank keeps every version of the data on this study. Status changes from Retraction Watch, Europe PMC and Crossref are listed with their source.

  1. Version 2Current

    11 Oct 2026, 00:50 UTC

    Study results updated

  2. Version 1

    9 Oct 2026, 02:48 UTC

    First added · source update from Europe PMC

Subjects

Terms as the source lists them.

PepBank is a research reference. Talk to a doctor before you use any peptide.