Fatemi S Hossein, Folsom Timothy D, Reutiman Teri J, Thuras Paul D
Department of Psychiatry, Division of Neuroscience Research, University of Minnesota Medical School, Minneapolis, MN 55455, USA.
Cerebellum. 2009 Mar;8(1):64-9. doi: 10.1007/s12311-008-0075-3.
Autism is a neurodevelopmental disorder that is often comorbid with seizures. Gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) is the main inhibitory neurotransmitter in brain. GABA(B) receptors play an important role in maintaining excitatory-inhibitory balance in brain and alterations may lead to seizures. We compared levels of GABA(B) receptor subunits GABA(B) receptor 1 (GABBR1) and GABA(B) receptor 2 (GABBR2) in cerebellum, Brodmann's area 9 (BA9), and BA40 of subjects with autism and matched controls. Levels of GABBR1 were significantly decreased in BA9, BA40, and cerebellum, while GABBR2 was significantly reduced in the cerebellum. The presence of seizure disorder did not have a significant impact on the observed reductions in GABA(B) receptor subunit expression. Decreases in GABA(B) receptor subunits may help explain the presence of seizures that are often comorbid with autism, as well as cognitive difficulties prevalent in autism.
自闭症是一种常与癫痫并发的神经发育障碍。γ-氨基丁酸（GABA）是大脑中的主要抑制性神经递质。GABA（B）受体在维持大脑兴奋性-抑制性平衡中起重要作用，其改变可能导致癫痫发作。我们比较了自闭症患者和匹配对照组在小脑、布罗德曼9区（BA9）和BA40中GABA（B）受体亚基GABA（B）受体1（GABBR1）和GABA（B）受体2（GABBR2）的水平。GABBR1水平在BA9、BA40和小脑中显著降低，而GABBR2在小脑中显著减少。癫痫障碍的存在对观察到的GABA（B）受体亚基表达降低没有显著影响。GABA（B）受体亚基的减少可能有助于解释常与自闭症并发的癫痫发作的存在，以及自闭症中普遍存在的认知困难。
