Nerve growth factor and angiotensin converting enzyme 2 levels in children with neurodevelopmental disorders

AbstractObjective Neurodevelopmental disorders (NDDs) are the most common psychiatric disorders in childhood, and there are many factors in their etiology. In recent years, many biomarkers have been studied to elucidate the etiology of these disorders. In this study, it was aimed to investigate the levels of nerve growth factor (NGF) and angiotensin converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) in attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), autism spectrum disorder (ASD), and intellectual disability (ID).Methods The study included 74 children with NDDs (the number of patients in ADHD, ASD and ID groups were 24, 25 and 25 respectively) and 30 healthy controls (HCs). Serum NGF and ACE2 levels were studied with ELISA kits, also complete blood count (CBC), levels of fasting glucose and serum lipids were assessed.Results ACE2 levels were found to be lower in NDD group than HCs in girls. In boys with ASD, triglyceride levels were significantly higher than other groups. Also a positive correlation was found between ACE2 and NGF levels when all sample assessed together.Conclusions This study is a premise for investigating ACE2 and NGF in NDDs. The role of these markers in ADHD, ASD, ID and other NDDs and their associations with gender should be assessed by studies in which both larger sample groups and more disorders.Keywords: Neurodevelopmental disordersADHDautismintellectual disabilityNGFACE2 Disclosure statementThe authors declare no conflict of interest and there is no funding for this report.Ethical statementErciyes University ethics committee approved this study (2022/184). Written informed consent to participate in the study was obtained from all parents. The procedures were in accordance with the responsible committee on the ethical standards of human experimentation of the 1975 Declaration of Helsinki, as revised in 1983.Additional informationFundingThe author(s) reported there is no funding associated with the work featured in this article.