Evaluation of Interleukin-35 and Serotonin Levels in Iraqi Children with Autism

Abstract Background: Autism is a collection of conditions that cause a significant loss of ability to engage with, adhere to, or communicate with other kids or adults and maintain accurate records interaction with the outside world or society. A complex variety of neurological elements make up autism. These diseases are brought on by defects in a developing child’s brain; these conditions typically endure a lifetime. Autism spectrum disorders are conditions that affect people of all ages. Objectives: The goal of this study is to compare the levels of the cytokine interleukin-35 (IL-35), cortisol, and serotonin in the serum of patients with autistic children to those of seemingly healthy controls due to their roles in the development of autism illnesses. Materials and Methods: The study included collecting blood samples from a group of autistic children that included 80 patients (60 men and 20women), and a healthy group that included forty individuals as a control group (20 men and 20 women). Results: The results showed that IL-35 had a low significant difference in autism patients compared to the control group by (126.50 ± 15.93, 484.00 ± 55.27), respectively, and some immune indicators that include serotonin. The results showed that there were low significant differences at the level of ( P ≤ 0.05) for patients. It reached (31.77 ± 6.55) compared to the control (138.21 ± 5.97). As for cortisol, it was highly significant and at a high level in autistic patients compared to the control by (21.70 ± 4.54) and (8.57 ± 0.74), respectively. Conclusions: Diminished serotonin, IL-35, and cortisol levels could potentially signify the involvement of these biomarkers in the development of autism, further endorsing the potential utility of serotonin, IL-35 and cortisol as diagnostic tools for assessing the severity of autism.