Table 2.
Meta-analyses of cross-sectional comparisons of immune/inflammatory markers between individuals with ASD and TD controls.
| Marker | k | N ASD | N TD | Effect Size (ASD vs. TD) | Heterogeneity | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hedge’s g (95% CI) | Z Value | p-Value | Q | p-Value | I 2 | ||||
| WBC | 10 | 526 | 436 | 0.286 (0.125–0.448) | 3.477 | 0.001 | 13.644 | 0.136 | 34.04% |
| Neutrophils | 6 | 314 | 270 | 0.287 (0.085–0.488) | 2,784 | 0.005 | 7.272 | 0.201 | 31.25% |
| Monocytes | 11 | 629 | 488 | 0.355 (0.173–0.536) | 3.825 | <0.001 | 21.696 | 0.017 | 53.91% |
| Lymphocytes | 6 | 374 | 329 | −0.055 (−0.229–0.119) | −0.624 | 0.533 | 6.599 | 0.252 | 24.23% |
| B cells | 5 | 215 | 136 | −0.090 (−0.583–0.404) | −0.356 | 0.722 | 19.816 | 0.001 | 79.81% |
| NK cells | 7 | 320 | 168 | 0.364 (0.021–0.706) | 2.083 | 0.037 | 17.998 | 0.006 | 66.66% |
| T cells | 5 | 215 | 136 | 0.024 (−0.367–0.414) | 0.119 | 0.905 | 12.491 | 0.014 | 67.98% |
| Tc cells | 4 | 173 | 105 | 0.726 (0.111–1.342) | 2.313 | 0.021 | 16.692 | 0.001 | 82.03% |
| Th cells | 5 | 233 | 165 | −0.346 (−1.102–0.410) | −0.896 | 0.370 | 49.481 | <0.001 | 91.92% |
| Th/Tc cells ratio | 3 | 103 | 70 | −0.419 (−0.728–−0.110) | −2.661 | 0.008 | 0.923 | 0.630 | 0.00% |
| Tregs | 7 | 233 | 188 | −1.304 (−2.611–0.004) | −1.954 | 0.051 | 183.821 | <0.001 | 96.74% |
| Th17 | 3 | 102 | 93 | 2.058 (−0.250–4.366) | 1.747 | 0.081 | 75.642 | <0.001 | 97.36% |
| NLR | 4 | 181 | 177 | 0.686 (0.033–1.339) | 2.058 | 0.040 | 30.834 | <0.001 | 90.27% |
| Neopterin | 3 | 134 | 129 | 1.159 (0.624–1.693) | 4.246 | <0.001 | 7.095 | 0.029 | 71.809 |
WBC: Publication bias markers: Orwin’s FSN = 5, Egger’s regression test, p-value (2-tailed) = 0.167. Monocytes: Publication bias markers: Orwin’s FSN = 8, Egger’s regression test, p-value (2-tailed) = 0.099 (Supplementary Figure S1).