1. Chang YC, Cole TB, Costa LG. {{Prenatal and early-life diesel exhaust exposure causes autism-like behavioral changes in mice}}. {Part Fibre Toxicol};2018 (Apr 20);15(1):18.
BACKGROUND: Escalating prevalence of autism spectrum disorders (ASD) in recent decades has triggered increasing efforts in understanding roles played by environmental risk factors as a way to address this widespread public health concern. Several epidemiological studies show associations between developmental exposure to traffic-related air pollution and increased ASD risk. In rodent models, a limited number of studies have shown that developmental exposure to ambient ultrafine particulates or diesel exhaust (DE) can result in behavioral phenotypes consistent with mild ASD. We performed a series of experiments to determine whether developmental DE exposure induces ASD-related behaviors in mice. RESULTS: C57Bl/6J mice were exposed from embryonic day 0 to postnatal day 21 to 250-300 mug/m(3) DE or filtered air (FA) as control. Mice exposed developmentally to DE exhibited deficits in all three of the hallmark categories of ASD behavior: reduced social interaction in the reciprocal interaction and social preference tests, increased repetitive behavior in the T-maze and marble-burying test, and reduced or altered communication as assessed by measuring isolation-induced ultrasonic vocalizations and responses to social odors. CONCLUSIONS: These findings demonstrate that exposure to traffic-related air pollution, in particular that associated with diesel-fuel combustion, can cause ASD-related behavioral changes in mice, and raise concern about air pollution as a contributor to the onset of ASD in humans.
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2. Qin YY, Jian B, Wu C, Jiang CZ, Kang Y, Zhou JX, Yang F, Liang Y. {{A comparison of blood metal levels in autism spectrum disorder and unaffected children in Shenzhen of China and factors involved in bioaccumulation of metals}}. {Environ Sci Pollut Res Int};2018 (Apr 22)
The present study compared blood plasma metals in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) with those in unaffected children in Shenzhen (China). Factors associated with the metal bioaccumulation were further investigated. Thirty-four blood samples of children with ASD were collected in a local hospital (Shenzhen Children’s Hospital), while those of 38 unaffected children were from a local large public kindergarten, during March to April in 2016. Metal analysis was carried out by inductively coupled plasma-optical emission spectrometry. The results showed that children with ASD had higher (P < 0.01, 0.05) Pb (ASD 31.9 mug/L, unaffected children 18.6 mug/L), Hg (3.83, and 1.09 mug/L), and Cd (0.70 and 0.26 mug/L) than unaffected children, while essential elements Zn (ASD 4552.0 mug/L, unaffected children 5118.6 mug/L), Se (61.7 and 90.6 mug/L), and Mn (13.5 and 21.4 mug/L) showed an opposite pattern. Moreover, the children exposed to passive smoking had higher (P < 0.05) Cd (passive smoking 1.08 mug/L; non-passive smoking 0.22 mug/L) than those without the exposure. Positive associations were found between levels of Hg or Pb and seafood consumption as well as body mass index (BMI). More future work is needed in order to clarify the association between metal exposure and ASD occurrence in China. Lien vers le texte intégral (Open Access ou abonnement)
