Transcriptomic Analysis Reveals Abnormal Expression of Prion Disease Gene Pathway in Brains from Patients with Autism Spectrum Disorders.

ABSTRACT: The role of infections in the pathogenesis of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is still controversial. In this study, we aimed to evaluate markers of infections and immune activation in ASD by performing a meta-analysis of publicly available whole-genome transcriptomic datasets of brain samples from autistic patients and otherwise normal people. Among the differentially expressed genes, no significant enrichment was observed for infectious diseases previously associated with ASD, including herpes simplex virus-1 (HSV-1), cytomegalovirus and Epstein-Barr virus in brain samples, nor was it found in peripheral blood from ASD patients. Interestingly, a significant number of genes belonging to the "prion diseases" pathway were found to be modulated in our ASD brain meta-analysis. Overall, our dat

SUBMITTER: Lombardo SD 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7226514 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature