Inflammatory Cytokines: Potential Biomarkers of Immunologic Dysfunction in Autism Spectrum Disorders

Table 1

The expression of cytokines in different samples of autistic patients.

Cytokines		Sample	Expression	References
Interleukins	IL-1	Serum	—	Singh et al. (1991) [12]
	IL-1R	Serum	—	Croonenberghs et al. (2002) [13]
	IL-1	PBMC	↑	Jyonouchi et al. (2001) [14]
	IL-2	Serum; PBMC	↑	Singh et al. (1991) [12]
	IL-2R	PBMC	—	Singh et al. (1991) [12]
	IL-2	Plasma	—	Ashwood et al. (2010) [25]
	IL-2	Brain	—	Li et al. (2009) [26]
	IL-6	Plasma	—	Singh (1996) [39]
	IL-6	Brain	↑	Vargas et al. (2005) [8]; Wei et al. (2011) [40]
Chemokines	MCP-1/CCL2	Brain; CSF; plasma	↑	Vargas et al. (2005) [8]; Ashwood et al. (2010) [25]
	MCP-1/CCL2	AF	↑	Abdallah et al. (2012) [46]
	OPN	Serum	↑	Al-ayadhi and Mostafa (2011) [55]
Tumor necrosis factor	TNF-α	Plasma	—	Singh (1996) [39]
		PBMC	↑	Jyonouchi et al. ( 2001) [14]; Ashwood et al. (2011) [42, 57]
		CSF	↑	Chez et al. (2007) [4]
		Brain	↑	Li et al. (2009) [26]
Interferon	IFN-γ	Plasma	↑	Singh (1996) [39]; Croonenberghs et al. (2002) [13]
		Plasma	—	Sweeten et al. (2004) [65]
		Brain	↑	Li et al. (2009) [26]
Growth factors	TGF-β1	Plasma	↓	Okada et al. (2007) [72]; Ashwood et al. (2008) [67]
	TGF-β1	Brain	↑	Vargas et al. (2005) [8]
	EGF	Serum	↓	Suzuki et al. (2007) [78]
	EGF	Serum	↑	Işeri et al. (2011) [79]; Tobiasova et al. (2011) [80]
	BDNF	Serum	↑	Nelson et al. (2001) [83]
Growth factors	BDNF	Serum	↑	Miyazaki et al. (2004) [84]
		Serum	↓	Katoh-Semba et al. (2007) [85]
		Brain	↓	Sheikh et al. (2010) [86]
	GM-CSF	Brain	↑	Li et al. (2009) [26]
		PBMC	↑	Ashwood et al. (2008) [67]
		Plasma	↓	Manzardo et al. (2012) [5]

PBMCs: peripheral blood mononuclear cells; AF: amniotic fluid; CSF: cerebrospinal fluid; TGF: transforming growth factor; EGF: epidermal growth factor; BDNF: brain-derived neurotrophic factor; GM-CSF: granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor.