title: Autoantibodies in autism spectrum disorders (ASD).
abstract: Autism spectrum disorders (ASD) are a heterogeneous group of neurodevelopmental disorders defined behaviorally by abnormalities in social, verbal, and nonverbal communication. The etiologies of ASD are unknown, likely to be the result of a variety of numerous genetic, neurological, environmental, and immunological interactions that lead to a general behavioral phenotype defined as ASD. This review will focus on the various immune system anomalies, in particular, autoantibodies, which have been reported in subjects with ASD. In addition, we will discuss recent studies performed by our group concerning the presence of autoantibodies directed against neural antigens, which are observed in patients with ASD.
authors.affiliation: Division of Rheumatology, Allergy and Clinical Immunology, UC Davis, Davis, CA 95616, USA.
authors.forename: Sharifia
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Wills
authors.forename: Maricel
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Cabanlit
authors.forename: Jeff
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Bennett
authors.forename: Paul
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Ashwood
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Amaral
authors.forename: Judy
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Van de Water
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001321:Autistic Disorder / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology* / Q000473:pathology; D001323:Autoantibodies / Q000276:immunology*; D002450:Cell Communication / Q000276:immunology; D006801:Humans; D007107:Immune System / Q000276:immunology; D009474:Neurons / Q000473:pathology