Research Information System
Thesis Type: Expertise In Medicine
Institution Of The Thesis: Gazi Üniversitesi, Tıp Fakültesi, Turkey
Approval Date: 2017
Student: SELEN KARAGÖZLÜ
Supervisor: BUKET DALGIÇ
Abstract:The intestines, acting like a barrier between the body and outer environmental conditions, play an important role in the intake of some antigens and immün response development. Most studies, conducted in the recent times, seem to agree that the increase in intestinal permeability plays an important role on the etiopathogenesis of some diseases' such as a Celiac disease, a type 1 diabetes mellitus, an asthma, an ankylosing spondylitis, some neoplastic diseases, an autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and a schizophrenia. Especially, many recent studies have focused on the demonstration of intestinal permeability increase in autoimmune diseases and the markers that specifies this increase. Significantly, the intestinal permeability is regulated by the tight junctions on the intestinal epithelium. A protein, which is called as zonulin, has a key role on the regulation of tight junction functions. Zonulin is involved in the structure of intracellular tight junctions and binds to special receptors on the intestinal epithelium. The disjunction of this protein (zonulin) from the junctional complex leads to increase in the intestinal permeability. ASD is a neurodevelopmental disease with behavioural, social and cognitive retardation and the ethology of which is not fully illuminated. The frequent occurrence of gastrointestinal complaints in patient with ASD leads to growing of ideas that brain-intestine relationship may have an important role on etiopathogenesis of ASD. There are many studies which have been focused on increasing of the intestinal permeability in ASD. It is considered that the increased permeability of intestines results in rising of invasion of metabolites, formed by intestinal microorganism and some dietary antigens, through blood. By this way it stimulates some immune/autoimmune mechanisms which may be responsible for the development of the disease. In this study, zonulin which regulates the function of tight junctions and is responsible for the increased intestinal permeability in children with ASD was evaluated and compared with zonulin in healthy control groups. According to this study it was seen that there was no difference in zonulin levels between patient and control group. It was observed that there was positive correlation between serum zonulin levels and age in patient group. Serum zonulin level of patients with gastrointestinal symptom score above median value was higher than serum zonulin level of patients with symptom score under median value and healthy control group. As a result of this study, it was considered that, the increase of zonulin level with age and higher intensity of gastrointestinal symptoms and the increase of intestinal permeability may be a matter of in ASD patients. Especially, the relevance of the restlessness symptom with defecation changes leads to growing an idea that behavioural changes in ASD group may be related to the increase in intestinal permeability.