الفهرس 
A UTISM S PECTRUM D ISorder (Only 14 pages are availabe for public view
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Abstract
This study aimed to investigate the relationship between serum levels of nerve growth factor and both hyperserotonemia and the frequency of serum anti-myelin basic protein auto-antibodies in autistic children.
Serum levels of nerve growth factor, serum serotonin and serum anti-myelin basic protein auto-antibodies were investigated in 22 autistic children (17 males and 5 females). Their ages ranged between 3 and 11 years (mean ± SD = 5.41 ± 2.14 years) in comparison to 22 healthy age- and sex-matched healthy control children (16 males and 6 females). Their ages ranged between 3 and 11.5 years (mean ± SD = 6.09 ± 2.20 years).
The degree of the disease severity was assessed by using CARS and according to this scale, children who have scored 30–36 have mild to moderate autism (n =16),while those with scores ranging between 37 and 60 points have a severe degree of autism (n=6).
A family history of autoimmune diseases was significantly higher in children with autism (54.5%) than healthy control children (18.2%), P<0.05.
Although the frequency of allergic manifestations in families of children with autism (22.7%) was higher than healthy control children (9.1%), the difference was statistically non-significant (P>0.05).
Serum levels of serotonin were significantly higher in autistic children than healthy control children (P<0.001). Increased serum levels of serotonin were found in 86.3% of autistic children