title: Autism in 2016: the need for answers.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Autism spectrum disorders are lifelong and often devastating conditions that severely affect social functioning and self-sufficiency. The etiopathogenesis is presumably multifactorial, resulting from a very complex interaction between genetic and environmental factors. The dramatic increase in autism spectrum disorder prevalence observed during the last decades has led to placing more emphasis on the role of environmental factors in the etiopathogenesis. The objective of this narrative biomedical review was to summarize and discuss the results of the most recent and relevant studies about the environmental factors hypothetically involved in autism spectrum disorder etiopathogenesis.
  
  
  METHODS
  A search was performed in PubMed (United States National Library of Medicine) about the environmental factors hypothetically involved in the non-syndromic autism spectrum disorder etiopathogenesis, including: air pollutants, pesticides and other endocrine-disrupting chemicals, electromagnetic pollution, vaccinations, and diet modifications.
  
  
  RESULTS
  While the association between air pollutants, pesticides and other endocrine-disrupting chemicals, and risk for autism spectrum disorder is receiving increasing confirmation, the hypothesis of a real causal relation between them needs further data. The possible pathogenic mechanisms by which environmental factors can lead to autism spectrum disorder in genetically predisposed individuals were summarized, giving particular emphasis to the increasingly important role of epigenetics.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Future research should investigate whether there is a significant difference in the prevalence of autism spectrum disorder among nations with high and low levels of the various types of pollution. A very important goal of the research concerning the interactions between genetic and environmental factors in autism spectrum disorder etiopathogenesis is the identification of vulnerable populations, also in view of proper prevention.
authors.affiliation: IRCCS Institute of Neurological Sciences of Bologna, Child Neurology and Psychiatry Unit, Bologna, Italy; University of Bologna, Department of Biomedical and Neuromotor Sciences, Bologna, Italy. Electronic address: annio.posar@unibo.it.
authors.forename: Annio
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Posar
authors.affiliation: IRCCS Institute of Neurological Sciences of Bologna, Child Neurology and Psychiatry Unit, Bologna, Italy.
authors.forename: Paola
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Visconti
mesh_terms: D000067877:Autism Spectrum Disorder / Q000209:etiology* / Q000235:genetics*; D001321:Autistic Disorder / Q000209:etiology* / Q000235:genetics*; D002648:Child; D004785:Environmental Pollutants / Q000633:toxicity*; D005260:Female; D020022:Genetic Predisposition to Disease; D006801:Humans; D018811:Maternal Exposure / Q000009:adverse effects; D011247:Pregnancy; D011297:Prenatal Exposure Delayed Effects; D012307:Risk Factors
chemical_list: D004785:Environmental Pollutants
keywords: Air pollutants; Autism spectrum disorder; Environmental factors; Epidemiologia; Epidemiology; Epigenetics; Epigenética; Fatores ambientais; Neurobiologia; Neurobiology; Poluentes atmosféricos; Transtorno do espectro autista