Copyright: ©Author(s) 2026. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license. No commercial re-use. See permissions. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc.
World J Clin Pediatr. Jun 9, 2026; 15(2): 112164
Published online Jun 9, 2026. doi: 10.5409/wjcp.v15.i2.112164
Published online Jun 9, 2026. doi: 10.5409/wjcp.v15.i2.112164
Role of soluble alpha-klotho as a novel biomarker for characterizing children with autism spectrum disorder in Kurdistan, Iraq
Thikra A Allwsh, Dezheen S Kucher, Department of Chemistry, University of Mosul, Mosul 41003, Nineveh, Iraq
Author contributions: Allwsh TA contributed to the study design and data interpretation, and wrote the initial draft of the article; Kucher DS performed the data collection (by conducting a clinical study) and statistical analyses; All authors contributed to revisions to the final manuscript and approved the final version to be published.
Institutional review board statement: This study was approved by the Scientific Research Committee, College of Science, University of Mosul, Iraq (No. 28082024-7-1).
Informed consent statement: All patients gave informed consent.
Conflict-of-interest statement: The authors have no conflicts of interest to declare.
STROBE statement: The authors have read the STROBE Statement-checklist of items, and the manuscript was prepared and revised according to the STROBE Statement-checklist of items.
Data sharing statement: Data can be obtained upon request from the author at dezheen.23scp166@student.uomosul.edu.iq.
Corresponding author: Thikra A Allwsh, PhD, Professor, Department of Chemistry, University of Mosul, Al-Zahour, Mosul 41003, Nineveh, Iraq. thekraaliallwsh@uomosul.edu.iq
Received: July 21, 2025
Revised: August 16, 2025
Accepted: November 25, 2025
Published online: June 9, 2026
Processing time: 298 Days and 11 Hours
Revised: August 16, 2025
Accepted: November 25, 2025
Published online: June 9, 2026
Processing time: 298 Days and 11 Hours
Core Tip
Core Tip: This is the first study to examine the relationship between soluble alpha-klotho (S-KLα) and autism spectrum disorder (ASD). It involves two groups aged 2-15 years: One healthy group and another comprising patients from autism centers in the Kurdistan Region, Iraq. We compared these groups and analyzed risk factors associated with ASD. The results showed a significant reduction in S-KLα levels in the sera of patients with ASD. S-KLα levels were affected by several risk factors and demonstrated a significant correlation with multiple clinical markers, suggesting a role for S-KLα in ASD and as a predictive biomarker in ASD risk assessment.