Increased Agmatine Degradation in Children with Specific Learning Disorder

Specific Learning Disability (SLD) describes persistent difficulties in academic skills in reading, writing, and mathematics, despite having normal intelligence. The exact origin of SLD is unknown. However, it is thought that biological factors and environmental conditions, along with genetic factors, contribute to the development of SLD. Agmatine, a neurotransmitter in the brain, plays a role in various biological processes. Agmatine has been reported to mediate antidepressant effects and neuroprotective effects, and it plays critical roles in learning and the processing of learned information into memory. Therefore, this study aimed to determine the relationship between SLD and agmatine metabolism by determining the enzyme levels of arginine decarboxylase (ADC) and agmatinase (AGMAT) in children with SLD. ADC and AGMAT levels in the blood serum of children with SLD and controls were analyzed using ELISA. When ADC levels in children with SLD (30.26 ± 5.06 ng/mL) were compared with those in the control group (29.82 ± 4.95 ng/mL), the difference was not statistically significant (p = 0.737). However, AGMAT levels in children with SLD (27.02 ± 4.46 ng/mL) were found to be statistically significantly higher than those in the control group (21.42 ± 3.98 ng/mL) (p < 0.001). In light of these findings, we can say that agmatine breakdown is significantly increased in children with SLD.