Cited by 635Autism Spectrum Disorder ResearchTryptophan and brain disordersGenetics and Neurodevelopmental Disorders

The role of immune dysfunction in the pathophysiology of autism

Open access
Onore, Charity, Careaga, Milo, Ashwood, Paul·2012·Brain, Behavior, and Immunity

Abstract

Autism spectrum disorders (ASD) are a complex group of neurodevelopmental disorders encompassing impairments in communication, social interactions and restricted stereotypical behaviors. Although a link between altered immune responses and ASD was first recognized nearly 40 years ago, only recently has new evidence started to shed light on the complex multifaceted relationship between immune dysfunction and behavior in ASD. Neurobiological research in ASD has highlighted pathways involved in neural development, synapse plasticity, structural brain abnormalities, cognition and behavior. At the same time, several lines of evidence point to altered immune dysfunction in ASD that directly impacts some or all these neurological processes. Extensive alterations in immune function have now been described in both children and adults with ASD, including ongoing inflammation in brain specimens, elevated pro-inflammatory cytokine profiles in the CSF and blood, increased presence of brain-specific auto-antibodies and altered immune cell function. Furthermore, these dysfunctional immune responses are associated with increased impairments in behaviors characteristic of core features of ASD, in particular, deficits in social interactions and communication. This accumulating evidence suggests that immune processes play a key role in the pathophysiology of ASD. This review will discuss the current state of our knowledge of immune dysfunction in ASD, how these findings may impact on underlying neuro-immune mechanisms and implicate potential areas where the manipulation of the immune response could have an impact on behavior and immunity in ASD.

The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.

Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.

A few free checks a day · papers already verified open instantly · results are public

Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.1016/j.bbi.2011.08.007

Cites

137 of 137 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

Statistics

Claims the paper makes

The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.

Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.

A few free checks a day · papers already verified open instantly · results are public

Claims other papers make about this one

Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?

  • The literature exploring immune dysregulation in autism is broad, ranging from upregulated pro-inflammatory cytokine levels in cerebrospinal fluid and blood, brain-specific autoantibodies (both in patients and mothers), and changes to immune cell function (e.g., downregulated T regulatory cells).

    “The literature exploring immune dysregulation in autism is broad, ranging from upregulated pro-inflammatory cytokine levels in cerebrospinal fluid and blood, brain-specific autoantibodies (both in patients and mothers), and changes to immune cell function (e.g., downregulated T regulatory cells) [124,125].”
  • Individuals with ASD have an increased incidence of autoimmune disorders, allergy and asthma.

    “individuals with ASD have an increased incidence of autoimmune disorders, allergy and asthma65,103.”
  • Immune dysfunction and gastrointestinal inflammation are common in individuals with ASD and contribute to severity of behaviors seen in the disorder.

    “Immune dysfunction and gastrointestinal (GI) inflammation are also common in individuals with ASD and contribute to severity of behaviors seen in the disorder [6–8].”
  • High levels of cytokines such as IL-1B, IL-6, IL-8, and IL-12p40 have been reported in ASD children associated with poor communication and impaired social communication.

    “High levels of cytokines (e.g., IL-1B, IL-6, IL-8, and IL-12p40) have been reported in ASD children associated with poor communication and impaired social communication [32,152].”

Self-check

Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.

The self-check needs the paper’s full text.

Cites

Flagged first, then by citations

Cited by

Sorted by citations

Authors
Onore, C., Careaga, M., & Ashwood, P.
Affiliations
University of California Davis Medical Center (US)
Corresponding author
Ashwood, Paul
Venue
Brain, Behavior, and Immunity
Publisher
Elsevier BV
Published
2012-03
Volume
26
Issue
3
Pages
383-392
ISSN
0889-1591 (ISSN-L)
OpenAlex
W1968659204
Cited by
635
References
137
Citations by year
2026: 30 · 2025: 24 · 2024: 49 · 2023: 28 · 2022: 35 · 2021: 42 · 2020: 47 · 2019: 46 · 2018: 54 · 2017: 46 · 2016: 50 · 2015: 45 · 2014: 47 · 2013: 50 · 2012: 39
FWCI
3.79
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Brain Behavior and Immunity (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (acceptedVersion)
  • PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
Funders
  • Autism Speaks (AS7567, ASCN5014)
  • National Institute of Mental Health (R01MH089626)
  • Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (R21HD065269)
Topics
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Autism Spectrum Disorder Research
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Biological Psychiatry › Tryptophan and brain disorders
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Genetics › Genetics and Neurodevelopmental Disorders
Keywords
autism spectrum disorder, immune dysfunction, neuroinflammation, inflammatory cytokines, cerebrospinal fluid, autoantibodies, immune cell function, social interaction deficits, communication difficulties, pathophysiology, synaptic plasticity, brain abnormalities
MeSH terms
Autistic Disorder, Brain, Humans, Immunity, Innate, Inflammation, Inflammation Mediators, Adaptive Immunity

About these checks

Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.

Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.

Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.

What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›

Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review