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Table 6 Essential Minerals and non-essential minerals measured in whole blood, RBC, serum, and urine

From: Nutritional and metabolic status of children with autism vs. neurotypical children, and the association with autism severity

Essential Minerals + other minerals Units Autism Group Neuro-typical Group % Difference p-value Neurotypical Reference Range (10th and 90th percentiles) Autism Group % below RR Autism Group % above RR Tietz Ref. Range[39] NHANES1999-2002 Reference Range (6-11 yr and 12-19 yr)[38] Sonora Quest Ref. Range
Calcium-WB mg/dl 5.9
+/- 0.4 		5.8
+/- 0.3 		  n.s. 5.45-6.20 11% 11%    
Calcium-RBC μg/g 19.3
+/-7 		22.4
+/- 6 		-14% 0.02 12.5-29.5 31% 7%    
Calcium-Serum (total) mg/dl 9.6
+/- 0.5 		9.6
+/- 0.2 		  n.s. 9.25-9.9 13% 9% 8.8-10.8
(2-12 yr) 		  8.8-10.8
(2-12 yr)
Chromium-RBC ng/g 0.91
+/-0.5 		0.80
+/- 0.4 		  n.s. 0.3-14 9% 16%    
Copper-WB μg/dL 95
+/-11 		89
+/- 14 		+7% 0.02 70-108.5 0% 11%    
Copper-RBC μg/g 0.76
+/-0.08 		0.72
+/- 0.09 		+5% 0.03 0.61-0.86 2% 13%    
Iodine-Urine μg/mg-creatinine 0.24
+/- 0.2 		0.26
+/- 0.3 		  n.s. 0.097-0.57 25% 4%   0.116-0.699
0.067-0.364 		 
Iron-RBC μg/g 891
+/-94 		833
+/- 64 		+7% 0.0005 * 764-922 2% 42%    
Iron-Serum μg/dl 83
+/- 34 		87
+/- 35 		  n.s. 42-130 7% 7% 50-120
(child) 		39-126
45-141 		28-136
(6-14 yr)
Serum Ferritin μg/l 39.1
+/- 22 		36.9
+/- 17 		  n.s. 17-63 9% 16% 7-140
(1 - 15 yr) 		11-74
8.0-115 		 
Lithium-WB μg/L 1.7
+/-0.8 		3.6
+/- 6 		-52% 0.006 W 1-5.0 11% 0%    
Lithium-WB (without 3 highest neurotypical outliers #) μg/L   2.2
+/- 1.1 		-23% 0.006 W 3.25-3.90 13% 7%    
Magnesium-WB mg/dl 3.53
+/-0.31 		3.64
+/- 0.26 		-3% 0.02 W 42-54.5 18% 22%    
Magnesium-RBC μg/g 48.9
+/-6 		47.5
+/- 5 		  n.s. 1.8-2.2 4% 2%    40-64
(adult)
Magnesium-Serum mg/dl 1.95
+/- 0.14 		2.03
+/- 0.15 		-4% 0.02 W 8-16 13% 15% 1.7-2.1
(6-12 yr) 		  1.7-2.4
(adult)
Manganese-WB μg/L 12.1
+/4 		11.6
+/- 3 		  n.s. 0.012-0.025 11% 20% 7.7-12.1
(adult) 		  
Manganese-RBC μg/g 0.021
+/-0.007 		0.018
+/- 0.005 		+12% 0.07 W 1-1.8 6% 7%    
Molybdenum-WB μg/L 1.4
+/-0.4 		1.4
+/- 0.3 		  n.s. 0.15-0.30 7% 13% 0.8-3.3
(adult) 		  
Molybdenum-RBC ng/g 0.93
+/- 0.3 		0.98
+/- 0.2 		  n.s. 520-629 7% 33%    
Phosphorus-RBC μg/g 597
+/-59 		567
+/- 43 		+5% 0.004 3.85-5.35 6% 6%    
Phosphorus-Serum mg/dL 4.6
+/- 0.5 		4.6
+/- 0.5 		  n.s. 73-83.5 9% 20% 4.5-5.5
(2-12 yr) 		  3.1-5.9
(4-12 yr)
Potassium -RBC mEq/L 79
+/- 5.3 		76.9
+/- 4.1 		+3% 0.007 W 3.8-4.6 15% 9%    
Potassium-Serum mEq/L 4.1
+/- 0.3 		4.2
+/- 0.3 		  n.s. 186-236 19% 9% 3.4-4.7
(child) 		  2.8-6.0
(child)
Selenium-WB μg/L 207
+/-28 		210
+/- 20 		  n.s. 0.20-0.27 9% 18% 58-234
(adult) 		  
Selenium-RBC μg/g 0.24
+/- 0.04 		0.23
+/- 0.03 		  n.s. 136-139 9% 17% 0.07-0.24
(adult) 		  
Sodium-Serum mEq/l 138
+/- 2 		137
+/- 1 		  n.s. 0.15-0.30 11% 2% 138-145
(child) 		  135-145
(adult)
Vanadium-RBC ng/g 0.21
+/- 0.07 		0.22 +/- 0.07   n.s. 465-657 7% 7%    
Zinc-WB μg/dL 551
+/-68 		555
+/- 74 		  n.s. 6.8-10.8 2% 15%    
Zinc-RBC μg/g 9.2
+/-1.4 		8.9
+/- 1.4 		  n.s.       
Non-essential minerals            
Boron-RBC μg/g 0.029
+/-0.014 		0.025
+/- 0.007 		+16% 0.04 0.014-0.032 13% 36%    
Strontium-WB μg/L 25
+/-8 		24
+/- 6 		  n.s 17-34 7% 6%    
  1. The average levels of minerals measured in the Autism and Neurotypical groups are reported below, along with their standard deviations. The p-value for a t-test comparison of the two groups is also reported. If the p-value is below 0.05, then the % difference between the groups is reported. For several tests the data was not normally distributed, and in those cases a non-parametric Wilcoxon test (also known as the Mann-Whitney test) was used instead of a t-test - those p-values are marked with a W.
  2. The table also lists the reference range of the neurotypical group (10th and 90th percentiles), and the % of the Autism group who are above or below the reference ranges. Note that if the groups were identical, 10% would be above and 10% would be below. Percentages above 25% are highlighted. Reference Ranges from Tietz Textbook of Clinical Chemistry (Burtis and Ashwood 1999), the NHANES National Report, and Sonora Quest are given where available.
  3. # Note that the lithium level for the neurotypical group is greatly increased by three siblings with very high lithium levels of 16, 16, and 35 mcg/L. A second value for lithium is given for the neurotypical group without those 3 siblings; the difference between the autism group and this revised neurotypical group is smaller but slightly more significant.
  4. * Statistically significant difference between the two groups with 95% confidence per Bonferroni analysis.
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Nutrition & Metabolism

ISSN: 1743-7075

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