The Association Between Autistic Traits and Serum Testosterone, Oxytocin and Androstenedione Levels in Prepubertal Male Drug Naive Children with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder

Abstract

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.