Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Science, King Abdulaziz University Jeddah 21589, Saudi Arabia.
Department of Zoology, Kinnaird College for Women 93-Jail Road Lahore 54000, Pakistan.
Curr Pharm Des. 2020;26(7):743-754. doi: 10.2174/1381612826666200226101218.
Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is an emerging health problem involving 1 out of every 68 children. The incidence rate of autism has increased 3 folds during the last 3 decades. Due to the illusive picture of aetiology, a considerable number of autistic children fail to receive proper behavioural and medicational treatment. The present study provides a cumulative account of autism risk factors. Several factors including the gene expression and gene mutations, environmental pollution, metal ion accumulation, exposure to pesticides, immune deficiencies, viral infections, mother's age, health, mental status, mother's interactions with the foetus, vaccination of mother and children, and modulations in gut microbiota have been debated. These risk factors may contribute to the development of autism either independently or synergistically leading to a broad spectrum of characteristics observed in autistic patients. The variable quantitative influence of a wide spectrum of risk factors may result in a unique set of features in each autistic individual. However, the exact mechanism behind the combined impact of various aetiological factors is poorly understood hindering the adaptation of specified and effective therapies.
自闭症谱系障碍（ASD）是一个新出现的健康问题，每 68 个儿童中就有 1 个受到影响。自闭症的发病率在过去 30 年中增加了 3 倍。由于病因学的模糊性，相当数量的自闭症儿童未能得到适当的行为和药物治疗。本研究提供了自闭症风险因素的综合描述。包括基因表达和基因突变、环境污染、金属离子积累、接触杀虫剂、免疫缺陷、病毒感染、母亲年龄、健康状况、精神状态、母亲与胎儿的互动、母亲和儿童的疫苗接种以及肠道微生物群的调节等在内的几个因素都被认为是自闭症的风险因素。这些风险因素可能会独立或协同作用导致自闭症患者出现广泛的特征。广泛的风险因素的定量影响可能会导致每个自闭症个体都有独特的特征。然而，各种病因因素的综合影响背后的确切机制尚不清楚，这阻碍了特定和有效的治疗方法的应用。
