Objective: Generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) is a prevalent psychiatric disorder. Diagnosis of GAD depends on subjective complaints of patients, thus the need for biological markers is constantly emerging. In this study, we aimed to the investigate diagnostic values of Erythropoietin (Epo) and its receptor (EpoR) levels in drug-naïve patients with GAD. Methods: This study included 45 newly diagnosed drug-naive patients with GAD, aged and sex-matched 30 healthy controls. Medical histories were obtained, and physical examinations and laboratory tests were conducted. Also, the Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale (HAM-A) was used for all participants. Serum Epo and EpoR levels were measured by ELISA. Results: HAM-A score was significantly higher in GAD patients versus the controls (p ＜ 0.05). While the levels of Epo in patients with GAD were lower than the control patients, EpoR levels were increased in these patients (p ＜ 0.05). Epo/EpoR ratios were significantly lower in the patients with GAD than in the control subjects (p ＜ 0.05). A positive significant correlation was observed between the EpoR level and the HAM-A score (r = 0.755, p ＜ 0.001). However, there was a negative significant correlation between Epo levels and HAM-A score (r = −0.749, p ＜ 0.001).Receiver operator characteristic curve analysis showed high diagnostic performance for Epo and EpoR, areas under curves were 0.901 and 0.912, respectively. Conclusion This is the first report to investigate the association between serum Epo and EpoR levels in GAD patients.Our results reveal possible diagnostic value of Epo and EpoR. Moreover, Epo therapy may be a good choice for GAD treatment.

Objective: Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a heterogeneous, highly heritable, a common childhood neurobehavioural disorder resulting from complex gene-gene and gene-environment interactions. The erythropoietin (Epo)/erythropoietin receptors (EpoR) system turned out to have additional important functions in nonhematopoietic tissue. In this study, we aimed to investigate the levels of Epo and and EpoR, and also their diagnostic values in children with ADHD. Methods: A total of 70 children were included in the study, 35 drug-naive patients with ADHD (age: 6−12 years; male/female: 20/15) and 35 healthy controls (age: 6−12 years; male/female: 22/13). Serum Epo and EpoR levels was determined using a commercial sandwich enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay kit. Results: The results indicated that the levels of Epo decreased in patients with ADHD compared to control (p ＜ 0.05).On the other hand, EpoR levels increased in these patients (p ＜ 0.05). Furthermore, the ratio of Epo/EpoR was significantly lower in ADHD patients than controls (p ＜ 0.05). Receiver operator characteristic curve analysis showed high diagnostic performance for Epo and EpoR, areas under curve were 0.980 and 1.000, respectively. Conclusion This is the first report to investigate the association between serum Epo and EpoR levels in ADHD patients. Our results indicated that Epo may play a role in the etiology of ADHD, and Epo therapy may be beneficial in these disorders if given in addition to the routine treatment of children with ADHD. Furthermore, our results reveal possible diagnostic value of Epo and EpoR.

Objective: Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a heterogeneous, highly heritable, a common childhood neurobehavioural disorder resulting from complex gene-gene and gene-environment interactions. The erythropoietin (Epo)/erythropoietin receptors (EpoR) system turned out to have additional important functions in nonhematopoietic tissue. In this study, we aimed to investigate the levels of Epo and and EpoR, and also their diagnostic values in children with ADHD. Methods: A total of 70 children were included in the study, 35 drug-naive patients with ADHD (age: 6−12 years; male/female: 20/15) and 35 healthy controls (age: 6−12 years; male/female: 22/13). Serum Epo and EpoR levels was determined using a commercial sandwich enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay kit. Results: The results indicated that the levels of Epo decreased in patients with ADHD compared to control (p ＜ 0.05).On the other hand, EpoR levels increased in these patients (p ＜ 0.05). Furthermore, the ratio of Epo/EpoR was significantly lower in ADHD patients than controls (p ＜ 0.05). Receiver operator characteristic curve analysis showed high diagnostic performance for Epo and EpoR, areas under curve were 0.980 and 1.000, respectively. Conclusion This is the first report to investigate the association between serum Epo and EpoR levels in ADHD patients. Our results indicated that Epo may play a role in the etiology of ADHD, and Epo therapy may be beneficial in these disorders if given in addition to the routine treatment of children with ADHD. Furthermore, our results reveal possible diagnostic value of Epo and EpoR.