Similar Datasets
Project description:Globally, autism spectrum disorder (ASD) affects approximately 1.0-2.5% of human newborns, with non-genetic risk factors estimated to contribute to over 50% ASD cases through yet elusive mechanisms. Montelukast (MTK), a leukotriene receptor antagonist and FDA-approved anti-asthma drug, was found to potently disrupt retinoic acid (RA) signaling, and substantially increase the risk of ASD in humans when used during pregnancy or in early childhood, according to prospective and retrospective cohort studies. Both maternal and postnatal exposure to montelukast caused autistic-like behaviors in rat offspring. Montelukast also altered brain regional patterning through disrupting RA signaling in human cerebral organoids, similar to DEAB, an established inhibitor of RA-synthesizing ALDH1As. Mechanistically, montelukast was found to directly bind to retinoic acid receptor alpha (RARα) and impair RARα heterodimer formation to disrupt RA signaling. Altogether, this work highlighted not only the developmental origin of ASD, but the utmost importance in cautioned use of medicinal chemicals during maternity or early childhood to prevent psychiatric disorders, e.g. ASD.
2026-03-16 | GSE241071 | GEO
Project description:Globally, autism spectrum disorder (ASD) affects approximately 1.0-2.5% of human newborns, with non-genetic risk factors estimated to contribute to over 50% ASD cases through yet elusive mechanisms. Montelukast (MTK), a leukotriene receptor antagonist and FDA-approved anti-asthma drug, was found to potently disrupt retinoic acid (RA) signaling, and substantially increase the risk of ASD in humans when used during pregnancy or in early childhood, according to prospective and retrospective cohort studies. Both maternal and postnatal exposure to montelukast caused autistic-like behaviors in rat offspring. Montelukast also altered brain regional patterning through disrupting RA signaling in human cerebral organoids, similar to DEAB, an established inhibitor of RA-synthesizing ALDH1As. Mechanistically, montelukast was found to directly bind to retinoic acid receptor alpha (RARα) and impair RARα heterodimer formation to disrupt RA signaling. Altogether, this work highlighted not only the developmental origin of ASD, but the utmost importance in cautioned use of medicinal chemicals during maternity or early childhood to prevent psychiatric disorders, e.g. ASD.
2026-03-16 | GSE232669 | GEO
Project description:Early-life Exposure to Montelukast Causes Autism Spectrum Disorder through Impairing Neuronal Retinoic Acid Signaling
| PRJNA1006347 | ENA
Project description:Early-life Exposure to Montelukast Causes Autism Spectrum Disorder through Impairing Neuronal Retinoic Acid Signaling [scRNA-Seq]
| PRJNA1006355 | ENA
Project description:Early-life Exposure to Montelukast Causes Autism Spectrum Disorder through Impairing Neuronal Retinoic Acid Signaling [RNA-seq and Ribo-seq]
| PRJNA973551 | ENA
Project description:Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a group of developmental disabilities characterized by impairments in social interaction and communication and restricted and repetitive interests/behaviors. Advances in human genomics have identified a large number of genetic variations associated with ASD. These associations are being rapidly verified by a growing number of studies using a variety of approaches, including mouse genetics. These studies have also identified key mechanisms underlying the pathogenesis of ASD, many of which involve synaptic dysfunctions, and have investigated novel, mechanism-based therapeutic strategies. This review will try to integrate these three key aspects of ASD research: human genetics, animal models, and potential treatments. Continued efforts in this direction should ultimately reveal core mechanisms that account for a larger fraction of ASD cases and identify neural mechanisms associated with specific ASD symptoms, providing important clues to efficient ASD treatment.
| S-EPMC3733014 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Neurodevelopmental regression (NDR) is a subtype of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) that manifests as loss of previously acquired developmental milestones. Early life dysregulation of nutritional metals and/or exposure to toxic metals have been associated with ASD, but the underlying biological mechanisms by which metals influence neurodevelopment remain unclear. We hypothesize that metals influences neurodevelopment through dysregulation of bioenergetics. Prenatal and early postnatal metal exposures were measured using validated tooth-matrix biomarkers in 27 ASD cases (13 with NDR) and 7 typically-developing (TD) controls. Mitochondrial respiration and glycolysis were measured in peripheral blood mononuclear cells using the Seahorse XF96. Children with ASD demonstrated lower prenatal and postnatal Copper (Cu) and prenatal Nickel concentrations and Copper-to-Zinc (Cu/Zn) ratio as compared with TD children. Children with ASD and NDR showed greater metal-related disruption of cellular bioenergetics than children with ASD without NDR. For children with ASD and NDR mitochondrial respiration decreased as prenatal Manganese concentration increased and increased as prenatal Zinc concentration increased; glycolysis decreased with increased exposure to prenatal Manganese and Lead and postnatal Manganese. For children with ASD without a history of NDR, glycolysis increased with increased postnatal exposure to Tin. Language and communication scores in children with ASD were positively related to prenatal Cu exposure and Cu/Zn ratio. This study suggests that prenatal nutritional metals may be important for neurodevelopment in children with ASD, and that exposure to toxic metals and differences in nutritional metal exposures is associated with dysregulation of cellular bioenergetics, particularly in the NDR subtype of ASD.
| S-EPMC7341836 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by deficits in social communication and the presence of restricted interests and repetitive behaviors. There have been recent concerns about increased prevalence, and this article seeks to elaborate on factors that may influence prevalence rates, including recent changes to the diagnostic criteria. The authors review evidence that ASD is a neurobiological disorder influenced by both genetic and environmental factors affecting the developing brain, and enumerate factors that correlate with ASD risk. Finally, the article describes how clinical evaluation begins with developmental screening, followed by referral for a definitive diagnosis, and provides guidance on screening for comorbid conditions.
| S-EPMC7082249 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Epileptic encephalopathies represent a particularly severe form of epilepsy, associated with cognitive and behavioral deficits, including impaired social-communication and restricted, repetitive behaviors that are the hallmarks of autism spectrum disorder (ASD). With the advent of next-generation sequencing, the genetic landscape of epileptic encephalopathies is growing and demonstrates overlap with genes separately implicated in ASD. However, many questions remain about this connection, including whether epileptiform activity itself contributes to the development of ASD symptomatology. In this review, we compiled a database of genes associated with both epileptic encephalopathy and ASD, limiting our purview to Mendelian disorders not including inborn errors of metabolism, and we focused on the connection between ASD and epileptic encephalopathy rather than epilepsy broadly. Our review has four goals: to (1) discuss the overlapping presentations of ASD and monogenic epileptic encephalopathies; (2) examine the impact of the epilepsy itself on neurocognitive features, including ASD, in monogenic epileptic encephalopathies; (3) outline many of the genetic causes responsible for both ASD and epileptic encephalopathy; (4) provide an illustrative example of a final common pathway that may be implicated in both ASD and epileptic encephalopathy. We demonstrate that autistic features are a common association with monogenic epileptic encephalopathies. Certain epileptic encephalopathy syndromes, like infantile spasms, are especially linked to the development of ASD. The connection between seizures themselves and neurobehavioral deficits in these monogenic encephalopathies remains open to debate. Finally, advances in genetics have revealed many genes that overlap in ties to both ASD and epileptic encephalopathy and that play a role in diverse central nervous system processes. Increased attention to the autistic features of monogenic epileptic encephalopathies is warranted for both researchers and clinicians alike.
| S-EPMC5481888 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Postmortem studies have revealed increased density of excitatory synapses in the brains of individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), with a putative link to aberrant mTOR-dependent synaptic pruning. ASD is also characterized by atypical macroscale functional connectivity as measured with resting-state fMRI (rsfMRI). These observations raise the question of whether excess of synapses causes aberrant functional connectivity in ASD. Using rsfMRI, electrophysiology and in silico modelling in Tsc2 haploinsufficient mice, we show that mTOR-dependent increased spine density is associated with ASD -like stereotypies and cortico-striatal hyperconnectivity. These deficits are completely rescued by pharmacological inhibition of mTOR. Notably, we further demonstrate that children with idiopathic ASD exhibit analogous cortical-striatal hyperconnectivity, and document that this connectivity fingerprint is enriched for ASD-dysregulated genes interacting with mTOR or Tsc2. Finally, we show that the identified transcriptomic signature is predominantly expressed in a subset of children with autism, thereby defining a segregable autism subtype. Our findings causally link mTOR-related synaptic pathology to large-scale network aberrations, revealing a unifying multi-scale framework that mechanistically reconciles developmental synaptopathy and functional hyperconnectivity in autism.
| S-EPMC8526836 | biostudies-literature