Investigation of Relaxin-3 Serum Levels in terms of Social Interaction, Communication, and Appetite as a Biomarker in Children with Autism

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the possible relationship between relaxin-3 and autism spectrum disorder (ASD). METHODS: Serum relaxin-3 was measured in 80 children (50 children diagnosed with ASD and 30 controls). Symptom severity in the ASD group was evaluated by the Childhood Autism Rating Scale (CARS). Behavioral and nutritional problems in the groups were evaluated using the Abnormal Behavior Checklist (ABC) and the Childrenʼs Eating Behavior Questionnaire (CEBQ). RESULTS: Our findings showed that serum relaxin-3 levels were higher in children with ASD than in the controls. The listening response sub-scale score of the CARS scale was found to decrease as the level of relaxin-3 increased. However, as relaxin-3 levels increased in children with ASD, it was found that the speech problem sub-scale score on the ABC scale and the desire to drink score on the CEBQ scale increased, but the satiety responsiveness and food fussiness scores decreased. CONCLUSION: This study the first to investigate serum levels of relaxin-3, which has a role in regulating social behavior and nutritional behavior in children with ASD.