Blood Glutamate Levels in Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Zhen Zheng, Tingting Zhu, Yi Qu and Dezhi Mu

PLOS ONE, 2016, vol. 11, issue 7, 1-12

Abstract: Objective: Glutamate plays an important role in brain development, neuronal migration, differentiation, survival and synaptogenesis. Recent studies have explored the relationship between blood glutamate levels and autism spectrum disorder (ASD). However, the findings are inconsistent. We undertook the first systematic review with a meta-analysis of studies examining blood glutamate levels in ASD compared with controls. Methods: A literature search was conducted using PubMed, Embase, and the Cochrane Library for studies published before March 2016. A random-effects model was used to calculate the pooled standardized mean difference (SMD) of the outcomes. Subgroup analyses were used to explore the potential sources of heterogeneity, and the publication bias was estimated using Egger’s tests. Results: Twelve studies involving 880 participants and 446 incident cases were included in this meta-analysis. The meta-analysis provided evidence for higher blood glutamate levels in ASD [SMD = 0.99, 95% confidence interval (95% CI) = 0.58–1.40; P

Date: 2016
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:plo:pone00:0158688

DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0158688

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