1. Batista TH, Giusti-Paiva A, Vilela FC. {{Maternal protein malnutrition induces autism-like symptoms in rat offspring}}. {Nutr Neurosci}. 2018: 1-9.
OBJECTIVE: We tested the correlation between maternal protein malnutrition and autistic-like symptoms using behavioral tests in rodents that measure main behavioral characteristics observed in humans with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). METHODS: Pregnant female rats were fed a normal diet or a hypoproteic diet during gestation and lactation periods. The litters were weighed every 3 days during lactation, and the offspring were tested in behavioral tasks during infancy (postnatal day (PND) 5: quantification of ultrasonic vocalizations; PND 13: homing behavior test) and adolescence (PND 30-32: open field, hole-board, play social behavior, and object recognition tests) in order to capture the prevalence of some of the core and associated symptoms of ASD. RESULTS: Litters of the hypoproteic diet group had a lesser weight gain during lactation. In addition, pups of dams fed with a hypoproteic diet vocalized less compared to those fed with a normal diet, and they showed impaired social discrimination abilities in the homing behavior test. In adolescence, both male and female offspring of the hypoproteic diet group showed no impairment in locomotor activity; however, they exhibited stereotypic behavior in the hole-board test and a decrease in social play behaviors. Male offspring showed increased interest in exploring a familiar object rather than a novel object. CONCLUSION: Our results show that maternal protein malnutrition in rats causes offspring behaviors that resemble core and associated ASD symptoms.
Lien vers le texte intégral (Open Access ou abonnement)
2. Fordyce TA, Leonhard MJ, Chang ET. {{A critical review of developmental exposure to particulate matter, autism spectrum disorder, and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder}}. {J Environ Sci Health A Tox Hazard Subst Environ Eng}. 2018; 53(2): 174-204.
Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and attention deficit (hyperactivity) disorder (ADD/ADHD) are key focuses of current health research due to their increasing prevalence. The objective of this systematic literature search and critical review was to evaluate whether the human epidemiologic data indicate a pattern of association between ASD or ADD/ADHD and developmental exposure to particulate matter (PM), with a focus on exposures encountered before the age of three. A MEDLINE and EMBASE search was conducted; following preliminary and full-text screening, 14 relevant articles were identified for review. Three of the 14 studies were prospective cohort studies evaluating exposure to PM10; 11 studies had a case-control design. There was no consistent association between developmental PM exposure and ASD across the three of the cohort studies. Seven of the case-control studies examined the relationship between PM2.5 and/or PM10 and ASD; four examined the relationship between developmental diesel PM exposure and ASD. Overall, there was low external consistency in results among studies of PM2.5/PM10 and ASD, with some reporting high internal consistency without significant associations, others showing associations with high internal consistency for specific exposure windows only (e.g., third trimester), and still others showing high consistency for moderate to strong associations between PM and ASD. The majority of studies reporting significant results had low effect sizes in conjunction with small sample sizes. The four studies of diesel PM and ASD also had low external consistency of results. Only one study evaluated associations with ADD/ADHD, and it found no significant associations with PM10. The inconsistent findings across studies of developmental exposure to PM and ASD may be attributed to differences in the study populations, exposure assessments, outcome assessments, or chance. Further research is needed to understand the underlying biological mechanisms that lead to ASD and ADD/ADHD and how PM might be involved in those mechanisms, if at all. High-quality epidemiologic studies are also needed to conclusively determine whether developmental PM exposure is a causal factor for ASD or ADD/ADHD, with focus on a well-developed exposure assessment.
Lien vers le texte intégral (Open Access ou abonnement)
3. Rahmani F, Rezaei N. {{Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor Role in Autism Remains Elusive: A Flashback on the Route That Has Brought Us Here}}. {Acta medica Iranica}. 2017; 55(12): 733-5.
