Increased Hmgb1 Associated With Low Zinc and Symptom Severity in Children with Autism

Abstract

Autistic children often have a high prevalence of immune-related pathologies, such as allergies and autoimmune diseases, and there is compelling evidence that immune dysfunction is related to the etiology of autism. High-mobility group box proteins (HMGB1) constitute a family of non-histone and ubiquitous molecules with a pro-inflammatory function. In this study, we measured HMGB1 levels in autistic individuals and compared these levels to plasma zinc concentration. We found that in individuals with autism increased levels of HMGB1 was associated with low zinc levels, as well as increased selected symptom severity. These results suggest that there is a relationship between Zinc and HMGB1levels in autistic individuals, and that low zinc levels may be exasperating inflammation in these patients.