Leptin as a biomarker of sleep dysregulation in children with ASD: A drug-free cohort study
These findings highlight a significant association between elevated serum leptin levels and both sleep disturbances and autism symptom severity in medication-naïve children with ASD. While causality cannot be inferred, the data support the potential role of leptin as a peripheral correlate of sleep and behavioral dysregulation in ASD. Further longitudinal studies are warranted to examine leptin's utility as a monitoring biomarker within neurodevelopmental trajectories.
Authors
- Karen Spruyt (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2914-9074)
- Giuseppina Rosaria Umano (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5570-6620)
- Giuditta Bargiacchi
- Marcellino Monda
- Valentina Baldini
- Giovanni Messina
- Marco Carotenuto
- Giuseppe Plazzi
- Martina Gnazzo
Institutions
- University of Modena and Reggio Emilia (IT)
- Inserm (FR)
- Délégation Paris 7 (FR)
- University of Campania "Luigi Vanvitelli" (IT)
- Université Paris Cité (FR)
- Istituto delle Scienze Neurologiche di Bologna (IT)
- University of Campania "Luigi Vanvitelli" (IT)
- NeuroDiderot (FR)
- University of Palermo (IT)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Sleep Medicine
- Published
- 2026-02-17
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sleep.2026.108842
- Primary Topic
- Autism Spectrum Disorder Research
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00