Background:Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a group of neurodevelopmental disorders in which the underlying pathogenesis and etiologic factors are not fully understood. The blood brain barrier (BBB) ​​plays a critical role in central nervous system (CNS) defense by limiting access to circulating solutes, macromolecules, and cells that can negatively affect neuronal activity. The loss of BBB integrity is likely to be seen as a common pathologic finding for many psychiatric disorders such as schizophrenia, ASD, and mood disorders. In this study, we aimed to investigate whether serum cingulin levels are associated with ASD. Subjects and Methods: A total of 40 treatment-naive children with ASD and 40 healthy controls were included in the present study. The Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia for School-Aged Children, Present and Lifetime Version-DSM-5 (K-SADS-PL-DSM-5) has been used to screen healthy controls for psychiatric disorders by a psychiatrist after a physical examination by a paediatrician. The clinical severity of the ASD symptoms has been assessed by the Childhood Autism Rating Scale (CARS). Venous blood samples were collected and serum cingulin levels were measured. Results: When the ASD and control groups were compared, CARS and CINGULIN values of the patient group were statistically higher than the healthy group. There is a statistically positive correlation between CARS and Cingulin values. Discussion: To the best of our knowledge, this study is a first in the literature conducted about the serum cingulin levels, which is a component of BBB, among patients with ASD. Our findings demonstrate that serum cingulin levels are meaningfully higher in ASD group compared to the healthy control group. It has been also indicated that there has been a meaningful relationship between serum cingulin levels and ASD symptom severity.

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Children with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) might have problems similar to autism spectrum disorders and show impairment in social behaviour. Also, there is a relationship between social relationship skills and ToM (Theory of Mind) skills in children with ADHD. Besides, ASD (Autism Spectrum Disorder) is associated with prenatal exposure to high levels of androgens, and oxytocin plays a role in the modulation of emotions, coping with stress, and social behaviour such as ASD. In this study, the relationship between autistic traits and serum oxytocin, testosterone, and androstenedione levels in prepubertal male drug naive children with ADHD has been investigated. Prepubertal children with ADHD have been included in the study. For the children included in the study, intelligence levels were evaluated with WISC-4 (Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-fourth edition) and autistic traits were measured with both social responsiveness scale and theory of mind tests. Serum levels of oxytocin, testosterone, and androstenedione were measured with ELISA (The enzyme linked immunosorbent assay). While serum testosterone of patients with lower autistic traits are significantly lower than those with and severe autistic traits, the serum oxytocin levels are significantly higher. Also, patients with severe autistic traits have significantly higher serum androstenedione levels than those with lower autistic traits and autistic traits. It has been suggested that oxytocin, testosterone, and androstenedione might play roles in impaired social functions such as autistic traits, and this might be related to social relationships and theory of mind skills in patients with ADHD.

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