Expression Analysis of Suppressor of Cytokine Signaling (SOCS) Genes in Blood of Autistic Patients

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) includes a group of neurodevelopmental disorders associated with the dysregulation of cytokine profile. The family of suppressors of cytokine signaling (SOCS) has been demonstrated to exert negative regulation on production of cytokines via interference with the Jak/Stat transduction pathway. In the present study, we evaluated expression of SOCS1-3 and SOCS5 in the peripheral blood of ASD patients compared to the healthy subjects by means of real time PCR. Expression levels of SOCS genes were not significantly different between cases and controls. Significant correlations were found between expression levels of SOCS genes in female subjects, but not in male subjects. In addition, based on the Spearman correlation coefficients, correlations were more significant in ASD patients compared to the healthy subjects. SOCS3 expression levels were significantly correlated with the age of all studied participants. SOCS5 expression was correlated with the age of patients, but not healthy subjects. Although we demonstrated similar levels of SOCS genes expression in peripheral blood of ASD patients and healthy subjects, based on the observed altered cytokine profile of ASD patients, we suggest future evaluation of expression of these genes in certain components of blood.