Serum manganese levels in children with attention deficit hyperactive disorder

Abstract EN

ADHD is one of the most common neurodevelopmental and psychiatric disorders of childhood.

Manganese is an essential micronutrient, however exposure to high doses of manganese either by ingestion or inhalation produces several adverse effects in humans.

Objective: To assess whether serum manganese levels are high in children with ADHD.

Methods: The present study is a case-control study that was conducted on forty patients and twenty controls from 1st September 2016 to end of December 2017.

The ADHD patients were treatment-naïve.

Both case and control groups were assessed by history taking, Child Behavior 1 Checklist, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder rating scale (SC4),Stanford Binet 5th edition and had their blood sample taken to measure serum Manganese levels using measured with Inductively Coupled Plasma- Mass Spectrometry.

Results: Higher mean manganese level among ADHD cases (5.5±1) compared to controls (4.1± 0.6) respectively and the difference is highly significant statistically (P<0.001) Conclusion: We speculate that our observed relationship between ADHD diagnosis and higher Mn levels may be part of an ‘‘environmental etiology of dopamine deficits (ADHD)’’.

Exposure to low/moderate but biologically relevant levels of Mn might interfere with optimal levels of dopamine in predisposed subjects leading to ADHD.