ArticleBiomarker insights2011
Analysis of Copper and Zinc Plasma Concentration and the Efficacy of Zinc Therapy in Individuals with Asperger's Syndrome, Pervasive Developmental Disorder Not Otherwise Specified (PDD-NOS) and Autism.
Article in Biomarker insights, 2011. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 26 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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Who cites it
26 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 76 citations in OpenAlex.
- Association between zinc status and autism spectrum disorder in children and adolescents: a systematic review and meta-analysis of case-control studies.Frontiers in nutrition · 2025Pooled it
- Zinc Status and Autism Spectrum Disorder in Children and Adolescents: A Systematic Review.Nutrients · 2023Pooled it
- Hair Metals and Essential Trace Element Profiles in Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder (F84.0): an Exploratory Case-Control Study With Sex Stratified Descriptive Analyses.Biological trace element research · 2026Article
- Copper deficiency impairs oligodendrocyte maturation and social behavior via mitophagy and mTOR suppression in ASD.Science advances · 2026Article
- Evaluation of Heavy Metals and Essential Minerals in the Hair of Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder and Their Association with Symptom Severity.Biological trace element research · 2025Article
- Plasma zinc, copper and serum ceruloplasmin levels of autism spectrum disorder children in Bangladesh.Heliyon · 2023Article
- Effects of nutritional interventions in children and adolescents with autism spectrum disorder: an overview based on a literature review.International journal of developmental disabilities · 2023Review
- The Role of Zinc and NMDA Receptors in Autism Spectrum Disorders.Pharmaceuticals (Basel, Switzerland) · 2022Review
- Article
- Oxidative stress indices in ASD children in Sub-Sahara Africa.Journal of neurodevelopmental disorders · 2021Article
- Review
- Evaluation of Zn, Cu, and Se Levels in the North American Autism Spectrum Disorder Population.Frontiers in molecular neuroscience · 2021Article
- The Metallome as a Link Between the "Omes" in Autism Spectrum Disorders.Frontiers in molecular neuroscience · 2021Review
- Zinc and Copper Brain Levels and Expression of Neurotransmitter Receptors in Two Rat ASD Models.Frontiers in molecular neuroscience · 2021Article
- The status of chemical elements in the blood plasma of children with autism spectrum disorder in Tunisia: a case-control study.Environmental science and pollution research international · 2020Article
- Critical Review of Exposure and Effects: Implications for Setting Regulatory Health Criteria for Ingested Copper.Environmental management · 2020Review
- Abnormal Levels of Metal Micronutrients and Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Perspective Review.Frontiers in molecular neuroscience · 2020Article
- The contribution of environmental exposure to the etiology of autism spectrum disorder.Cellular and molecular life sciences : CMLS · 2019Review
- Prospects of Zinc Supplementation in Autism Spectrum Disorders and Shankopathies Such as Phelan McDermid Syndrome.Frontiers in synaptic neuroscience · 2018Article
- Shank3 Is Part of a Zinc-Sensitive Signaling System That Regulates Excitatory Synaptic Strength.The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience · 2016Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
2 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
aimTo assess plasma zinc and copper concentration in individuals with Asperger's Syndrome, Pervasive Developmental Disorder-Not Otherwise Specified (PDD-NOS) and autistic disorder, and to analyze the efficacy of zinc therapy on the normalization of zinc and copper levels and symptom severity in these disorders. SUBJECTS AND
methodsPlasma from 79 autistic individuals, 52 individuals with PDD-NOS, 21 individuals with Asperger's Syndrome (all meeting DSM-IV diagnostic criteria), and 18 age and gender similar neurotypical controls, were tested for plasma zinc and copper using inductively-coupled plasma-mass spectrometry.
resultsAutistic and PDD-NOS individuals had significantly elevated plasma levels of copper. None of the groups (autism, Asperger's or PDD-NOS) had significantly lower plasma zinc concentrations. Post zinc and B-6 therapy, individuals with autism and PDD-NOS had significantly lower levels of copper, but individuals with Asperger's did not have significantly lower copper. Individuals with autism, PDD-NOS and Asperger's all had significantly higher zinc levels. Severity of symptoms decreased in autistic individuals following zinc and B-6 therapy with respect to awareness, receptive language, focus and attention, hyperactivity, tip toeing, eye contact, sound sensitivity, tactile sensitivity and seizures. None of the measured symptoms worsened after therapy. None of the symptoms in the Asperger's patients improved after therapy. DISCUSSION: These results suggest an association between copper and zinc plasma levels and individuals with autism, PDD-NOS and Asperger's Syndrome. The data also indicates that copper levels normalize (decrease to levels of controls) in individuals with autism and PDD-NOS, but not in individuals with Asperger's. These same Asperger's patients do not improve with respect to symptoms after therapy, whereas many symptoms improved in the autism group. This may indicate an association between copper levels and symptom severity.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.