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Cited by 279Autism Spectrum Disorder ResearchGenetics and Neurodevelopmental DisordersNeuroendocrine regulation and behavior

The Neurochemistry of Autism

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Marotta, Rosa, Risoleo, Maria C., Messina, Giovanni, Parisi, Lucia, Carotenuto, Marco, Vetri, Luigi, Roccella, Michele·2020·Brain Sciences
DOI 10.3390/brainsci10030163PMC PMC7139720
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Abstract

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) refers to complex neurobehavioral and neurodevelopmental conditions characterized by impaired social interaction and communication, restricted and repetitive patterns of behavior or interests, and altered sensory processing. Environmental, immunological, genetic, and epigenetic factors are implicated in the pathophysiology of autism and provoke the occurrence of neuroanatomical and neurochemical events relatively early in the development of the central nervous system. Many neurochemical pathways are involved in determining ASD; however, how these complex networks interact and cause the onset of the core symptoms of autism remains unclear. Further studies on neurochemical alterations in autism are necessary to clarify the early neurodevelopmental variations behind the enormous heterogeneity of autism spectrum disorder, and therefore lead to new approaches for the treatment and prevention of autism. In this review, we aim to delineate the state-of-the-art main research findings about the neurochemical alterations in autism etiology, and focuses on gamma aminobutyric acid (GABA) and glutamate, serotonin, dopamine, N-acetyl aspartate, oxytocin and arginine-vasopressin, melatonin, vitamin D, orexin, endogenous opioids, and acetylcholine. We also aim to suggest a possible related therapeutic approach that could improve the quality of ASD interventions. Over one hundred references were collected through electronic database searching in Medline and EMBASE (Ovid), Scopus (Elsevier), ERIC (Proquest), PubMed, and the Web of Science (ISI).

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  • Alterations in glutamatergic and GABAergic pathways, which can lead to either excitatory/inhibitory imbalance, have been reported to play a role in the etiopathogenesis of psychotic disorders and ASD.

    “Alterations in glutamatergic and GABAergic pathways, which can lead to either excitatory/inhibitory imbalance, have been reported to play a role in the etiopathogenesis of psychotic disorders (McCutcheon et al., 2020) and ASD (Marotta et al., 2020).”

    From Can epigenetics shine a light on the biological pathways underlying major mental disorders? (2022) · cites this paper as Marotta et al., 2020

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Cited by

Sorted by citations

Authors
Marotta, R., Risoleo, M. C., Messina, G., Parisi, L., Carotenuto, M., Vetri, L., & Roccella, M.
Affiliations
  • Magna Graecia University (IT)
  • University of Campania "Luigi Vanvitelli" (IT)
  • University of Foggia (IT)
  • University of Palermo (IT)
Corresponding author
Vetri, Luigi
ORCID
Venue
Brain Sciences
Publisher
MDPI AG
Published
2020-03-13
Volume
10
Issue
3
Pages
163
ISSN
2076-3425 (ISSN-L)
DOI
10.3390/brainsci10030163
PMC
PMC7139720
OpenAlex
W3011266331
Cited by
279
References
27
Citations by year
2026: 27 · 2025: 45 · 2024: 45 · 2023: 55 · 2022: 45 · 2021: 41 · 2020: 19 · 2019: 1 · 2018: 1
FWCI
21.50
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
Locations
  • Brain Sciences (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
  • Institutional Research Information System University of Ferrara (University of Ferrara) (submittedVersion)
  • Archivio Istituzionale della Ricerca - Università degli Studi della Campania "Luigi Vanvitelli" (submittedVersion)
  • Nova Science Publishers (Nova Science Publishers, Inc.) (submittedVersion, other-oa)
Topics
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Autism Spectrum Disorder Research
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Genetics › Genetics and Neurodevelopmental Disorders
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Neuroendocrine regulation and behavior
Keywords
autism spectrum disorder, neurochemistry, brain development, GABA, glutamate, serotonin, dopamine, N-acetylaspartate, oxytocin, vasopressin, melatonin, vitamin D, orexin, endogenous opioids, acetylcholine, autism etiology, autism treatment

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