Castellani M L, Conti C M, Kempuraj D J, Salini V, Vecchiet J, Tete S, Ciampoli C, Conti F, Cerulli G, Caraffa A, Antinolfi P, Galzio R, Shaik Y, Theoharides T C, De Amicis D, Perrella A, Cuccurullo C, Boscolo P, Felaco M, Doyle R, Verrocchio C, Fulcheri M
Int J Immunopathol Pharmacol. 2009 Jan-Mar;22(1):15-9. doi: 10.1177/039463200902200103.
Autism spectrum disorder is of interest neurochemically because it represents a relatively homogeneous disorder with regard to disease development, abnormal cognitive development and intellectual development disturbance. A consistent finding in autistic children is a high number of mast cells and a high level of serotonin which is also found at elevated concentrations in the urine of autistic patients. In addition, a dysfunction of clinical conditions, such as gastrointestinal and immunological symptoms, is frequently noted in autistic children, however, IgE does not appear to be prevalent in these children but probably an increase of cytokines/chemokines produced by mast cells at an early age may play an important role. Therefore an immune hypothesis, involving also autoimmunity, is one possible pathogenetic mechanism in autism. In conclusion, mast cell activation could contribute to immune and neuroinflammatory abnormalities that are evident in patients with autism spectrum disorders.
自闭症谱系障碍在神经化学方面备受关注，因为就疾病发展、异常认知发展和智力发育障碍而言，它是一种相对同质的疾病。自闭症儿童的一个一致发现是肥大细胞数量众多且血清素水平较高，自闭症患者尿液中的血清素浓度也升高。此外，自闭症儿童经常出现临床状况功能障碍，如胃肠道和免疫症状，然而，这些儿童中IgE似乎并不普遍，但肥大细胞在幼年时产生的细胞因子/趋化因子增加可能起重要作用。因此，一种涉及自身免疫的免疫假说可能是自闭症的发病机制之一。总之，肥大细胞活化可能导致自闭症谱系障碍患者出现明显的免疫和神经炎症异常。
