The role of inflammation in children with specific learning disorders

Background: Specific learning disorder (SLD) is a common neurodevelopmental disorder in childhood with a delay in reading, writing, and/or mathematics. The etiology of SLD is not known exactly. Aim: In our study, we aimed to evaluate the effect of inflammation in the etiology of SLD. Materials and Methods: In our study, patients aged 7–14 years who applied to the child psychiatry outpatient clinic between November 2019 and November 2020 were retrospectively screened. The hemoglobin (Hb), red cell distribution width (RDW), platelet (PLT), plateletcrit (PCT), platelet distribution width (PDW), and white blood cell (WBC) values of the children were recorded. Neutrophil/lymphocyte ratio (NLR) and PLR values were calculated. Comparisons were carried out on different variables using SPSS version 22. Results: There was no significant difference in terms of age and gender in the SLD and control groups. When blood parameters were evaluated, there was no significant difference between the groups in terms of Hb, RDW, PCT, PDW, and WBC values. The PLT count was significantly higher in the patient group than in the control group (P = 0.049). There was no significant difference between the groups in terms of TLR and NLR values. Conclusion: The results of our study showed that Hb, RDW, PCT, PDW, WBC, NLR, and TLR values were similar in SLD and healthy control groups. This does not support the hypothesis that an increased inflammatory response may be responsible for the etiology of SLD. Considering the heterogeneity in the clinical symptoms and etiopathogenesis of SLD, more extensive studies are needed in this area.