Department of Pharmacy, The Second Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan, People's Republic of China.
Mental Health Institute of The Second Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, The China National Clinical Research Center for Mental Health Disorders, National Technology Institute of Psychiatry, Key Laboratory of Psychiatry and Mental Health of Hunan Province, Changsha, Hunan, People's Republic of China.
CNS Spectr. 2020 Aug;25(4):493-501. doi: 10.1017/S1092852919001603. Epub 2019 Oct 29.
Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder that is characterized by deficits in social interactions and perseverative and stereotypical behavior. Growing evidence points toward a critical role for synaptic dysfunction in the onset of ASD, and synaptic function is influenced by glial cells. Considering the evidence that neuroinflammation in ASD is mediated by glial cells, one hypothesis is that reactive glial cells, under inflammatory conditions, contribute to the loss of synaptic functions and trigger ASD. Ongoing pharmacological treatments for ASD, including oxytocin, vitamin D, sulforaphane, and resveratrol, are promising and are shown to lead to improvements in behavioral performance in ASD. More importantly, their pharmacological mechanisms are closely related to anti-inflammation and synaptic protection. We focus this review on the hypothesis that synaptic dysfunction caused by reactive glial cells would lead to ASD, and discuss the potentials of antineuroinflammatory therapy for ASD.
自闭症谱系障碍（ASD）是一种神经发育障碍，其特征是社交互动和坚持性及刻板行为缺陷。越来越多的证据表明，突触功能障碍在 ASD 的发病中起关键作用，而突触功能受神经胶质细胞的影响。鉴于 ASD 中的神经炎症是由神经胶质细胞介导的这一证据，有一个假设是，在炎症条件下，反应性神经胶质细胞会导致突触功能丧失，并引发 ASD。目前针对 ASD 的药物治疗方法，包括催产素、维生素 D、萝卜硫素和白藜芦醇等，都具有很大的发展潜力，且已显示出能改善 ASD 的行为表现。更重要的是，它们的药理机制与抗炎和突触保护密切相关。我们专注于这个假说，即反应性神经胶质细胞引起的突触功能障碍会导致 ASD，并讨论神经抗炎治疗 ASD 的潜力。
