Autism spectrum disorder: Trace elements imbalances and the pathogenesis and severity of autistic symptoms

•Metallomics provides a possibility for screening and assessing the severity of symptoms among ASD patients.•Deficiencies in essential elements with a burden of toxic metals might be involved in ASD pathogenesis.•Imbalances in trace elements levels contribute to the epigenetic alterations that furth...

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Published in:Neuroscience and biobehavioral reviews 2021-10, Vol.129, p.117-132
Main Authors: Baj, Jacek, Flieger, Wojciech, Flieger, Michał, Forma, Alicja, Sitarz, Elżbieta, Skórzyńska-Dziduszko, Katarzyna, Grochowski, Cezary, Maciejewski, Ryszard, Karakuła-Juchnowicz, Hanna
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Autism
Autistic spectrum disorder
Metallomics
Minerals disturbances
Toxic metals
Trace elements
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Summary:•Metallomics provides a possibility for screening and assessing the severity of symptoms among ASD patients.•Deficiencies in essential elements with a burden of toxic metals might be involved in ASD pathogenesis.•Imbalances in trace elements levels contribute to the epigenetic alterations that further facilitate neurodevelopmental impairments. The identification of biomarkers as diagnostic tools and predictors of response to treatment of neurological developmental disorders (NDD) such as schizophrenia (SZ), attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), or autism spectrum disorder (ASD), still remains an important challenge for clinical medicine. Metallomic profiles of ASD patients cover, besides essential elements such as cobalt, chromium, copper, iron, manganese, molybdenum, zinc, selenium, also toxic metals burden of: aluminum, arsenic, mercury, lead, beryllium, nickel, cadmium. Performed studies indicate that children with ASD present a reduced ability of eliminating toxic metals, which leads to these metals’ accumulation and aggravation of autistic symptoms. Extensive metallomic studies allow a better understanding of the importance of trace elements as environmental factors in the pathogenesis of ASD. Even though a mineral imbalance is a fact in ASD, we are still expecting relevant tests and the elaboration of reference levels of trace elements as potential biomarkers useful in diagnosis, prevention, and treatment of ASD.
ISSN:0149-7634
1873-7528
DOI:10.1016/j.neubiorev.2021.07.029