COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF HAIR ESSENTIAL ELEMENT CONTENT IN CHILDREN WITH SPASTIC AND ATAXIC CEREBRAL PALSY

The objective of the present study is investigation of hair essential element content in children with different clinical forms of cerebral palsy (CP). Assessment of hair element content in children with spastic and ataxic cerebral palsy was performed using inductively-coupled plasma mass-spectrometry. The obtained data demonstrate that hair cobalt, copper, manganese, and selenium levels were 33%, 9%, 19%, and 18% lower than those in the control group. At the same time, more profound differences were observed in patients with spastic diplegia, where the level of cobalt, copper, manganese, selenium, and vanadium was 33%, 9%, 20%, 18%, and 43% lower than in controls. A strong tendency to reduced hair iron and magnesium was also observed. Patients with ataxic cerebral palsy were characterized by 33%, 5%, and 21% lower hair cobalt, copper, and selenium content, whereas chromium levels exceeded the respective control values by 63%. In regression models only hair copper (β = -0.337; p < 0.001) and chromium (β = 0.214; p < 0.023) content were significantly associated with cerebral palsy in children. The observed differences may be associated with the role of metals in pathogenetic mechanisms of different forms of cerebral palsy.