Elevated serum levels of interleukin-17A in children with autism

Background: the t-helper (th)1/th2 dichotomy dominated the field of immune regulation until interleukin (il)-17-expressing t cells (th17) were proposed to be a third lineage of helper t cells,the key players in the pathogenesis of autoimmune disorders. autoimmunity to brain tissue may play a pathogenic role in autism. il-17a is a pro-inflammatory cytokine that has been shown to play an important role in various autoimmune neuroinflammatory diseases. the aim of this study was to measure serum levels of il-17a in relation to the degree of the severity of autism.methods: serum il-17a levels were measured by elisa in 45 children with autism and 40 matched healthy controls.results: children with autism had significantly higher serum il-17a levels than healthy controls (p <0.001),with increased serum levels of il-17a found in 48.9% of the autism group. patients with severe autism had significantly higher serum il-17a levels than those with mild to moderate autism (p = 0.01),and raised serum il-17a levels were significantly more common in children with severe autism (67.9%) than in those with mild to moderate autism (17.6%),p = 0.001.conclusions: serum il-17a levels were raised in the group with autism,and the levels correlated significantly with the severity of autism. this is the first study to measure levels of il-17a in relation to the severity of autism,to our knowledge. further research,with a larger subject population,is warranted to determine whether the increase of serum il-17a levels plasma has a pathogenic role in autism,and whether anti- il-17a therapy could be useful. © 2012 al-ayadhi and mostafa; licensee biomed central ltd.