ArticleEuropean child & adolescent psychiatry2014
Marked elevation of adrenal steroids, especially androgens, in saliva of prepubertal autistic children.
Article in European child & adolescent psychiatry, 2014. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT04930471 (A Multi-center, Prospective, Cohort Study to Elucidate the Effects of Metformin Treatment on Steroid Hormones and Social Behavior. Linking Autistic Behaviorial Symptoms to Changes in Steroid Hormone Availability), which is not on this map. Cited by 44 papers, 4 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
A Multi-center, Prospective, Cohort Study to Elucidate the Effects of Metformin Treatment on Steroid Hormones and Social Behavior. Linking Autistic Behaviorial Symptoms to Changes in Steroid Hormone Availability
Who cites it
44 citing papers in PubMed, 4 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 74 citations in OpenAlex.
- Adrenarche, social cognition, and the development and evolution of autism spectrum traits.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2025Pooled it
- Androgen levels in autism spectrum disorders: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Frontiers in endocrinology · 2024Pooled it
- Hyperandrogenism? Increased 17, 20-Lyase Activity? A Metanalysis and Systematic Review of Altered Androgens in Boys and Girls with Autism.International journal of molecular sciences · 2021Pooled it
- Potential of Salivary Biomarkers in Autism Research: A Systematic Review.International journal of molecular sciences · 2021Pooled it
- Medical treatment of autism spectrum disorder in children: Current evidence, controversies, and clinical challenges.World journal of clinical pediatrics · 2026Article
- Microbiota-gut-brain axis and neuroendocrine pathways underlie divergent mechanisms of intermittent and continuous theta-burst stimulation in autism spectrum disorder.Cellular and molecular life sciences : CMLS · 2026Article
- The role of neuroactive steroids in psychiatric and neurological disorders: Neurobiology and therapeutic perspectives.Neuroscience and biobehavioral reviews · 2025Review
- Exploring Causal Associations Between Plasma Metabolites and Autism Spectrum Disorder.Alpha psychiatry · 2025Article
- Examining androgen and estrogen profiles during pubertal development in autistic and neurotypical girls.Hormones and behavior · 2025Article
- Gut microbiota and urine metabolomics signature in autism spectrum disorder children from Southern China.BMC pediatrics · 2025Article
- The intersection and developmental trajectory of morning cortisol and testosterone in autistic and neurotypical youth.Molecular autism · 2025Article
- Decoding the peripheral transcriptomic and meta-genomic response to music in autism spectrum disorder via saliva-based RNA sequencing.Frontiers in molecular biosciences · 2025Article
- Salivary IL-1 Beta Level Associated with Poor Sleep Quality in Children/Adolescents with Autism Spectrum Disorder.Pediatric reports · 2024Article
- Copy number variations in autistic children.Biomedical reports · 2024Article
- Etiologies underlying sex bias in autism spectrum disorder: a narrative review of preclinical rodent models.Ewha medical journal · 2024Review
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- Article
- Analysis of salivary steroid hormones in boys with autism spectrum disorder.BMC psychiatry · 2023Article
- Cannabis-Responsive Biomarkers: A Pharmacometabolomics-Based Application to Evaluate the Impact of Medical Cannabis Treatment on Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder.Cannabis and cannabinoid research · 2023Observational
- Elevated level of testosterone in amniotic fluid during prenatal stress and its association with development of Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) like symptoms in toddlers.Pediatric endocrinology, diabetes, and metabolism · 2023Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
7 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Autism is diagnosed on the basis of behavioral manifestations, but its biomarkers are not well defined. A strong gender bias typifying autism (it is 4-5 times more prevalent in males) suggests involvement of steroid hormones in autism pathobiology. In order to evaluate the potential roles of such hormones in autism, we compared the salivary levels of 22 steroids in prepubertal autistic male and female children from two age groups (3-4 and 7-9 years old) with those in healthy controls. The steroids were analyzed using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry and radioimmunoassay. Statistical analysis (ANOVA) revealed that autistic children had significantly higher salivary concentrations of many steroid hormones (both C21 and C19) than control children. These anomalies were more prominent in older autistic children and in boys. The levels of androgens (androstenediol, dehydroepiandrosterone, androsterone and their polar conjugates) were especially increased, indicative of precocious adrenarche and predictive of early puberty. The concentrations of the steroid precursor, pregnenolone, and of several pregnanolones were also higher in autistic than in healthy children, but cortisol levels were not different. Some steroids, whose levels are raised in autism (allopregnanolone, androsterone, pregnenolone, dehydroepiandrosterone and their sulfate conjugates) are neuroactive and modulate GABA, glutamate, and opioid neurotransmission, affecting brain development and functioning. These steroids may contribute to autism pathobiology and symptoms such as elevated anxiety, sleep disturbances, sensory deficits, and stereotypies among others. We suggest that salivary levels of selected steroids may serve as biomarkers of autism pathology useful for monitoring the progress of therapy.
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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.