Serum fetuin A and cystatin B as biomarkers among autism spectrum disorder patients in central India

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) remains underdiagnosed in low- and middle-income countries due to reliance on subjective behavioural assessments and lack of validated objective biomarkers for early detection. Therefore, it is of interest to investigate the potential of two serum biomarkers, Fetuin-A and Cystatin B, as objective diagnostic indicators for ASD in 60 children from Central India (30 with ASD, 30 controls). While Fetuin-A showed a non-significant trend of elevation in the ASD group, Cystatin B levels were found to be significantly elevated in the ASD subjects compared to the neurotypical controls. ROC analysis demonstrated moderate diagnostic potential for both, with Cystatin B showing a higher Area under the Curve (AUC) of 69.5%. Thus, Cystatin B is a promising serum biomarker that could supplement current diagnostic tools for the early and accurate identification of ASD.