مرکز تحقیقات بیولوژی کاربردی تکوین جانوری

Introduction
Emerging hypotheses suggest a causal role for prenatal androgen exposure in some cases of Autism
spectrum disorders (ASD). The ratios of the lengths of the bones of the 2nd to the 4th digits (2D:4D) are
purported to be markers for prenatal androgen exposure and to be established early in gestation. Ratio of
second and fourth digits (2D:4D) is usually used as a proxy for prenatal testosterone.
Methods and Materials
In this study, 2D:4D on 48 children with ASD ( Case group) and in 41 normal child (Control group) were
measured. Two groups were matched with the gender and age. Both groups were selected by convenience
sampling method. All statistical analyses were performed using SPSS version 19 software, considering as
significant less than.
Results
Results showed that the average ratio of 2D:4D in ASD children were lower than the ratio in control
group (P<0.05(. 2D to 4D finger-length ratio of the right of children with autism was lower than the
normal children (P0.05(.
Conclusion
The results indicate that the 2D:4D ratio could be used together with other parameters as an indicator of
the likelihood of developing autistic traits in offspring. Results achieved in this research can be valuable
in further biological and psychological approaches in neurocognitive research and diagnostics of children
from ASD.