Table 1.

Caspase3, IL6, TNFα, Ca²⁺, Mg²⁺, Na⁺ and K⁺ concentrations and Ca²⁺/Mg²⁺ and Na⁺/K⁺ ratios in plasma of autistic patients (N = 25) compared to age and gender matching controls (N = 16)

Parameters	Groups	Min.	Max.	Mean ± S.D.	P value
Caspase3 (ng/ml)	Control	135.54	189.47	170.17 ± 13.05	> 0.001
	Autistic	81.94	158.28	123.40 ± 23.37
IL6 (pg/ml)	Control	303.18	394.41	343.34 ± 28.16
	Autistic	225.42	347.41	273.95 ± 30.82
TNFα (pg/ml)	Control	306.53	395.66	360.85 ± 29.05
	Autistic	129.44	381.28	253.16 ± 64.07
Ca2+ (mmol/L)	Control	9.49	14.77	12.29 ± 1.53
	Autistic	3.17	6.85	4.42 ± 0.87
Mg2+ (mmol/L)	Control	1.42	2.47	1.86 ± 0.35	0.411
	Autistic	1.00	2.76	1.97 ± 0.43
Na+ (mmol/L)	Control	76.20	139.92	120.92 ± 21.94	0.036
	Autistic	65.18	123.69	105.06 ± 17.43
K+ (mmol/L)	Control	1.20	7.90	4.76 ± 2.04	> 0.001
	Autistic	3.60	22.30	10.95 ± 5.26
Ca2+/Mg2+	Control	5.01	8.41	6.74 ± 0.99
	Autistic	1.40	6.82	2.44 ± 1.15
Na+/K+	Control	10.45	109.14	34.55 ± 26.01	0.004
	Autistic	4.15	19.57	10.41 ± 4.73