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Association Between Essential Metal Elements and the Risk of Autism in Chinese Han Population

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Abstract

Essential metal elements (EMEs) have essential roles in neurological development and maintenance of human homeostasis. We performed a case-control study to explore association between the risk of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and the 11 EMEs [Calcium (Ca), potassium (K), magnesium (Mg), sodium (Na), manganese (Mn), selenium (Se), cobalt (Co), Molybdenum (Mo), copper (Cu), zinc (Zn), and iron (Fe)] in serum. Ninety-two autistic subjects (cases) and age-sex-matched healthy subjects (controls = 91) from Beijing, China were recruited. In addition, totally 109 mothers of recruited children participated in this study. ICP-AES and ICP-MS were applied to determine the concentration of 11 EMEs in serum. The concentrations of Ca, K, and Mg were significantly higher in the cases than in the controls (OR [95% CI]: 1.031 [1.006–1.058] for Ca; 1.081 [1.046–1.118] for K; 1.161 [1.012–1.331] for Mg), while the concentrations of Zn and Cu were significantly lower (0.997 [0.995–0.999] for Cu; 0.996 [0.992–1.000] for Zn). Clear dose-response relationships between EMEs concentrations and the risk of ASD, as well as the correlation between EME concentrations and the severity of ASD were observed for most of the above EMEs. Six and seven specific correlated pairs between mothers and children were found in the cases and controls separately. The overall profiles of the EMEs were changed in the cases as compared to the controls. This study suggested that the higher levels of Ca, K, and Mg and lower levels of Zn and Cu may be associated with an elevated risk of ASD.

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Funding

This research was supported by grants from the Key Realm R&D Program of GuangDong Province [2019B030335001], Beijing Municipal Science & Technology Commission [Z181100001518005], and Scientific Research Seed Fund Of Peking University First Hospital [2021SF36].

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Author notes

  1. Jiahui Ma and Jing Wu contributed equally to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Anesthesiology and Critical Care Medicine, Peking University First Hospital, Beijing, 100034, People’s Republic of China

    Jiahui Ma

  2. Peking University Medical and Health Analysis Center, Peking University, Beijing, 100191, People’s Republic of China

    Jing Wu

  3. Heart Center & Beijing Key Laboratory of Hypertension, Beijing Chaoyang Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, 100020, People’s Republic of China

    Haibin Li

  4. School of Public Health, Peking University, Beijing, 100191, People’s Republic of China

    Jingyu Wang

  5. Neuroscience Research Institute, Peking University, Beijing, 100191, People’s Republic of China

    Jisheng Han & Rong Zhang

  6. Key Laboratory for Neuroscience, Ministry of Education/National Health and Family Planning Commission, Peking University, Beijing, 100191, People’s Republic of China

    Jisheng Han & Rong Zhang

  7. Department of Neurobiology, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Peking University Health Science Center, Beijing, 100191, People’s Republic of China

    Jisheng Han & Rong Zhang

  8. Autism Research Center of Peking University Health Science Center, Beijing, 100191, People’s Republic of China

    Rong Zhang

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  1. Jiahui Ma
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Ma, J., Wu, J., Li, H. et al. Association Between Essential Metal Elements and the Risk of Autism in Chinese Han Population. Biol Trace Elem Res 200, 505–515 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12011-021-02690-6

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