Three Possible Pathophysiologic Mechanisms for the Formation of Autism Spectrum Disorder

Abstract

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD), is a childhood neurodevelopment psychiatric disease formed by strong genetic factors. Normally, communication and social interaction deficits, and repetitive stereotype behaviors are the most common symptoms caused by ASD. Until now, although several treatments, such as depressive inhibitors, antipsychotic drugs, and psychotherapy, have been used to fight against ASD, however, the mechanism of the formation of ASD is still unclear. Previously, since the channels and regulatory factors of ASD are partly discovered, these treatments can only alleviate some of the ASD symptoms, but do not eradicate the psychiatric disease due to the consideration of drug side effects. Therefore, it is necessary to discover new treatment methods by making thorough inquiries on different pathophysiologic mechanism-passageways that contribute to ASD. Many factors might determine the formation of ASD, but only three types of theories, focusing on neuron signal transportation, glutamine receptors, and neuron immune system, are considered to be the most promising ASD-mechanism directions. Through collecting and analyzing relevant cell functions and structures, this article mainly explains the causes of ASD core or partial symptoms by pointing out three promising pathophysiologic ASD mechanisms at the cellular level, and analyses the reasons for the changes in the functions and structures of some related cells at the molecular level.