Diagnostic Potential of Serum TNFα and COX2 in ASD Disorder

Background: Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by impairment in social interactions, language delay and repetitive behavior of interest. Inflammation plays a key role in ASD, with pro-inflammatory cytokines such as interleukin TNFa implicated in disease pathogenesis. This cytokines are produced by activated microglia and contribute to neuroinflammation, amyloid-beta plaque formation, and tau hyperphosphorylation. The diagnostic potential of TNFa in ASD remains underexplored. A number of neurological and mental problems have been associated with elevated COX-2 expression, and the enzyme is well-known to play an important role in inflammatory processes. Objectives: This study aims to compare serum levels of TNFa and COX2 in ASD severity cases and healthy controls and investigates the diagnostic potential of these biomarkers using one way ANOVA. Methodology: The study enrolled 100 participants: 50 healthy controls and 50 ASD patients diagnosed according to CARS scal criteria. Serum TNFa and COX2 levels were measured using ELISA. Binary logistic regression, were employed to evaluate the diagnostic potential of these biomarkers. Results: ASD patients showed significantly (p-value <0.0001) elevated levels of TNFa, and COX2 compared to healthy controls. One way ANOVA analysis identified TNFa as a significant predictor of ASD with an TNFa levels in serum of the ASD group with its three stratified categories: mild, moderate, and severe. In mild cases the TNFa level 0.4740±0.072, the moderate cases 0.584±0.105 and for sever cases was 1.15186±0.498. Conclusions: The study concluded that elevated TNFα levels are strongly associated with ASD severity could serve as a promising diagnostic biomarker. Cox2, while elevated, did not show comparable diagnostic value.