Glutamate level in a sample of children with autism spectrum disorders and its relation to aggressive behavior

Background The study examines the possible relationship between serum glutamate levels and aggression in people with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) by comparing them in children with ASD and healthy controls (HCs). Because previous research on glutamate’s role in ASD has produced conflicting results, the purpose of the study was to determine whether glutamate concentrations are related to the severity of autism as measured by the Gilliam Autism Rating Scale (GARS), the aggressive behavior by the Modified Overt Aggression Scale (MOAS), and the adaptive behavior by the Vineland Adaptive Behavioral Scale (VABS). Methods Forty patients with ASD of both sexes, ages 3 to 13, were included in this case–control study and 50 children with age- and sex-matched completely healthy controls. Results The ROC curve demonstrates that the area under the curve for serum glutamate is good ( AUC = 0.777), with the best-detected cut-off point from the curve of 45.5 yielding a sensitivity of 83.3%, specificity of 58%, and total accuracy of 67.2%. Serum glutamate levels correlated positively with age in the cases. No statistically significant relation is detected between sex and serum glutamate level ( P -value < 0.05). Conclusions Compared to controls, children with ASD exhibited higher levels of aggression, developmental delays, lower IQ, and elevated serum glutamate levels, demonstrating potential as a biomarker for ASD with good sensitivity and moderate accuracy. However, no correlation was found between serum glutamate levels and measures of autism severity, aggression, or adaptive behavior.