Singh Shubham, Sangam Supraj Raja, Senthilkumar Rajagopal
Department of Biological Sciences, IISER, Pune, Maharashtra, India.
Department of Biotechnology, JNTU, Hyderabad, Telangana, India.
Adv Neurobiol. 2020;24:647-660. doi: 10.1007/978-3-030-30402-7_24.
Autism, or autism spectrum disorders (ASD), is one of the complex genetic diseases and its etiology is unknown for majority of the patients. It is characterized by deterioration in social interaction, communication, interests, imagination, and activities. As autism is a highly heterogeneous disorder, the symptoms can vary greatly in each affected individual. Oxidative stress implicates major pathogenesis of neurological disorders like ASD. Nutrients and dietary supplements play an important role in the health of an individual and there are several lines of evidence suggesting the role of dietary factors in the development or pathogenesis of ASD. The amino acids supplement has been found to reduce symptoms as they act as the precursors of neurotransmitters which in turn may extenuate mental disorders. The biosynthesis of amino acids in the brain is regulated by the concentration of amino acids in plasma. Amino acids are also considerable entities as they themselves, or peptides consisting of them, have profound antioxidant activities. Dietary constituents have an effect on the transport of amino acids across the blood-brain barrier (BBB) thus indirectly modulating the therapeutic value of amino acids. Among the other factors, voltage-gated calcium channels are directly linked to ASD as per results of genetic studies. Malfunctioning of these calcium channels causes ASD. The intricate biochemical and molecular machinery contributing to neurological disorders is still unknown. Here we discuss the preventive role of dietary amino acids against and regulation of voltage-gated calcium channels on ASD.
自闭症，即自闭症谱系障碍（ASD），是一种复杂的遗传性疾病，大多数患者的病因尚不清楚。其特征是社交互动、沟通、兴趣、想象力和活动能力出现退化。由于自闭症是一种高度异质性疾病，每个受影响个体的症状差异可能很大。氧化应激是自闭症等神经疾病主要发病机制之一。营养物质和膳食补充剂对个体健康起着重要作用，有多项证据表明饮食因素在自闭症的发生发展或发病机制中发挥作用。已发现补充氨基酸可减轻症状，因为它们是神经递质的前体，进而可能缓解精神障碍。大脑中氨基酸的生物合成受血浆中氨基酸浓度的调节。氨基酸本身或由其组成的肽具有强大的抗氧化活性，因此也是重要的物质。膳食成分会影响氨基酸通过血脑屏障（BBB）的转运，从而间接调节氨基酸的治疗价值。在其他因素中，根据基因研究结果，电压门控钙通道与自闭症直接相关。这些钙通道功能异常会导致自闭症。导致神经疾病的复杂生化和分子机制仍不清楚。在此，我们讨论膳食氨基酸对自闭症的预防作用以及电压门控钙通道对自闭症的调节作用。
