Title:Markers of Neuroinflammation in the Serum of Prepubertal Children
with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders
Volume: 21
Issue: 9
Author(s): Marco Fiore*, Carla Petrella, Giovanna Coriale, Pamela Rosso, Elena Fico, Massimo Ralli, Antonio Greco, Marco De Vincentiis, Antonio Minni, Antonella Polimeni, Mario Vitali, Marisa Patrizia Messina, Giampiero Ferraguti, Francesca Tarani, Simone de Persis, Mauro Ceccanti and Luigi Tarani
Affiliation:
- Institute of Biochemistry and Cell Biology, IBBC-CNR, Rome, Italy
Keywords:
Cytokine, inflammation, ROS, NGF, BDNF, child.
Abstract:
Background: Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASD) are the manifestation of the damage
caused by alcohol consumption during pregnancy. Children with Fetal Alcohol Syndrome
(FAS), the extreme FASD manifestation, show both facial dysmorphology and mental retardation.
Alcohol consumed during gestational age prejudices brain development by reducing, among
others, the synthesis and release of neurotrophic factors and neuroinflammatory markers. Alcohol
drinking also induces oxidative stress.
Hypothesis/Objective: The present study aimed to investigate the potential association between
neurotrophins, neuroinflammation, and oxidative stress in 12 prepubertal male and female FASD
children diagnosed as FAS or partial FAS (pFAS).
Methods: Accordingly, we analyzed, in the serum, the level of BDNF and NGF and the oxidative
stress, as Free Oxygen Radicals Test (FORT) and Free Oxygen Radicals Defense (FORD). Moreover,
serum levels of inflammatory mediators (IL-1α, IL-2, IL-6, IL-10, IL-12, MCP-1, TGF-β,
and TNF-α) involved in neuroinflammatory and oxidative processes have been investigated.
Results: We demonstrated low serum levels of NGF and BDNF in pre-pubertal FASD children
with respect to healthy controls. These changes were associated with higher serum presence of TNF-
α and IL-1α. Quite interestingly, an elevation in the FORD was also found despite normal FORT
levels. Moreover, we found a potentiation of IL-1α, IL-2, IL-10, and IL-1α1 in the analyzed female
compared to male children.
Conclusion: The present investigation shows an imbalance in the peripheral neuroimmune pathways
that could be used in children as early biomarkers of the deficits observed in FASD.
