Role of Metabolic Genes in Blood Arsenic Concentrations of Jamaican Children with and without Autism Spectrum Disorder

International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health

Mohammad H. Rahbar³  Maureen Samms-Vaughan²  Jianzhong Ma⁷  Jan Bressler⁵  Katherine A. Loveland⁴  Manouchehr Ardjomand-Hessabi¹  Aisha S. Dickerson¹  Megan L. Grove⁵  Sydonnie Shakespeare-Pellington²  Compton Beecher⁶  Wayne McLaughlin⁶ 

[1] Biostatistics/Epidemiology/Research Design (BERD) Component, Center for Clinical and Translational Sciences (CCTS), University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, Houston, Texas 77030, USA; E-Mails:;Department of Child & Adolescent Health, The University of the West Indies (UWI), Mona Campus, Kingston 7, Jamaica; E-Mails:;Division of Epidemiology, Human Genetics, and Environmental Sciences (EHGES), University of Texas School of Public Health at Houston, Houston, TX 77030, USA; E-Mail:;Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, University of Texas Medical School at Houston, Houston, TX 77054, USA; E-Mail:;Human Genetics Center, University of Texas School of Public Health at Houston, Houston, TX 77030, USA; E-Mails:;Department of Basic Medical Sciences, The University of the West Indies, Mona Campus, Kingston 7, Jamaica; E-Mails:;Division of Clinical and Translational Sciences, Department of Internal Medicine, Medical School, University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, Houston, TX 77030, USA; E-Mail:

关键词: arsenic;    autism spectrum disorder (ASD);    glutathione S-transferase (GST) genes;    detoxification;    interactions;   

DOI  :  10.3390/ijerph110807874

来源: mdpi

【 摘 要 】

Arsenic is a toxic metalloid with known adverse effects on human health. Glutathione-S-transferase (GST) genes, including GSTT1, GSTP1, and GSTM1, play a major role in detoxification and metabolism of xenobiotics. We investigated the association between GST genotypes and whole blood arsenic concentrations (BASC) in Jamaican children with and without autism spectrum disorder (ASD). We used data from 100 ASD cases and their 1:1 age- and sex-matched typically developing (TD) controls (age 2–8 years) from Jamaica. Using log-transformed BASC as the dependent variable in a General Linear Model, we observed a significant interaction between GSTP1 and ASD case status while controlling for several confounding variables. However, for GSTT1 and GSTM1 we did not observe any significant associations with BASC. Our findings indicate that TD children who had the Ile/Ile or Ile/Val genotype for GSTP1 had a significantly higher geometric mean BASC than those with genotype Val/Val (3.67 µg/L vs. 2.69 µg/L, p < 0.01). Although, among the ASD cases, this difference was not statistically significant, the direction of the observed difference was consistent with that of the TD control children. These findings suggest a possible role of GSTP1 in the detoxification of arsenic.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© 2014 by the authors; licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.