Evaluation of elements in hair samples of children with developmental language disorder (DLD).

BACKGROUND: Recent studies have highlighted a role for trace elements and toxic metals across neurodevelopmental disorders, including developmental stuttering, Autistic Spectrum Disorders (ASD), and Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). However, these environmental influences have yet to be explored in relation to Developmental Language Disorder (DLD). METHODS: Elemental hair composition of seven elements; zinc (64Zn), magnesium (26Mg), iron (57Fe), potassium (39K), aluminum (27Al), lead (208Pb), and barium (138Ba) were analyzed in hair samples from 35 children affected by DLD and 35 controls with typical language development (TLD) using both inductive coupled plasma optical emission spectroscopy (ICP-OES) and inductive coupled plasma mass spectroscopy (ICP-MS). RESULTS: The concentration of 64Zn was significantly lower in the hair of DLD group compared to the TLD control group. All other elements showed similar levels between cases and controls. This pilot study demonstrates the utility of trace elements and toxic metals screening in relation to language disorders and the use of hair samples in such investigations. CONCLUSION: The finding that zinc levels differed between cases and controls could represent a clinically relevant result and should be replicated in larger sample size across time. A wider battery of related elements will help to better understand the role of trace elements and toxic metals in DLD.

Amino acids profiles of children who stutter compared to their fluent sibling.

Purpose: This study scrutinises the abundances of 9 neurological-related amino acids of the scalp hair of 35 (5 females, 30 males) children who stutter and 30 normally fluent children (age and sex matched).Methods: Samples of hair from children who stutter aged (5-9 years) were collected from Speech Clinic at King Abdullah Hospital. The control subjects were selected from the same families of children who stutter to exclude the effect of nutritional, environmental, and biological factors. Amino Acid Analyser was used to measure the concentrations of amino acids in acid hydrolysed hair samples.Results: results indicated that the concentrations of threonine, tyrosine, and isoleucine (p = 0.001, 0.001, 0.02 respectively) are lower in hair samples of people who stutter compared with samples of normal fluent speakers.Conclusion: The findings of this study could introduce a new treatment protocol including the supplementation of reduced nutritional elements.KEY POINTSConcentrations of amino acids (threonine, isoleucine, and tyrosine) in the hair samples of people who stutter were significantly lower than the concentrations in the hair samples of control group.Concentrations of amino acids (histidine and glutamate) in hair samples of people who stutter were lower than control group with low significant values.The concentrations of amino acids (phenylalanine, serine, glycine, aspartate, glutamate) were not significantly different between hair samples of stuttering group and control group.The findings of the current study will be helpful in designing a new treatment method based on the supplementation of deficient amino acids.

The concentrations of bioelements in the hair samples of Jordanian children who stutter.

OBJECTIVES: This study investigates the levels of 15 bioelements (calcium, copper, chromium, sodium, iron, magnesium, manganese, zinc, cobalt, selenium, molybdenum, vanadium, potassium, boron, and lithium) in the hair species of Jordanian stutterer. METHODS: The subjects of the study included 25 cases of stuttering, and 25 normal children (age and sex matched). The severity of stuttering (low, moderate, and severe) were assessed using Stuttering Severity Instrument, Fourth edition (SSI-4). Hair samples of subjects were cut, washed, dried, physically degraded, hydrolyzed, and analyzed by Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry (ICP-MS). RESULTS: Results indicated that the levels of bioelements (Calcium, Copper, Chromium, Magnesium, Manganese, Cobalt, Selenium, Molybdenum, Vanadium, Boron, and Lithium) were significantly lesser in the hair samples of stuttering group than the control group. CONCLUSION: The findings of the current study could support the use of biochemical analyses as diagnostic biomarker for stuttering.