Medical Research

Neuroglial Activation and Neuroinflammation in the Brain of Patients with Autism
Diana L. Vargas, MD,1,2 Caterina Nascimbene, MD,1–3 Chitra Krishnan, MHS,1, Andrew W. Zimmerman, MD,1,4 and Carlos A. Pardo, MD1,2,5
Autism is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by impaired communication and social interaction and may be accompanied by mental retardation and epilepsy. Its cause remains unknown, despite evidence that genetic, environmental, and immunological factors may play a role in its pathogenesis.

Neuroimmunology of Autism Spectrum Disorder
David Marc, B.Sc.a, & Kelly Olson Ph.Da. NeuroScience, Inc., 373 280th St., Osceola, WI 54020, United States, david.marc@neurorelief.com
Autism is a developmental disorder characterized by immunological and neurological abnormalities. The role of cytokines in the pathophysiology of autism has been researched suggesting a relationship with altered blood-brain barrier permeability and subsequent neuroinflammation.

Immunity, neuroglia and neuroinflammation in autism
CARLOS A. PARDO1,2,3, DIANA L. VARGAS1,2, & ANDREW W. ZIMMERMAN1,4
1Department of Neurology, 2Division of Neuroimmunology and Infectious Disorders, 3Department of Pathology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, and 4Kennedy Krieger Institute, Baltimore, Maryland, USA
We recently demonstrated the presence of neuroglial and innate neuroimmune system activation in brain tissue and cerebrospinal fluid of patients with autism, findings that support the view that neuroimmune abnormalities occur in the brain of autistic patients and may contribute to the diversity of the autistic phenotypes.

The immune response in autism: a new frontier for autism research
Paul Ashwood,*,1 Sharifia Wills,† and Judy Van de Water†
*Medical Microbiology and Immunology and the M.I.N.D. Institute and †Division of Rheumatology, Allergy and Clinical Immunology, University of California Davis, Sacramento
Immune aberrations consistent with a dysregulated immune response, which so far, have been reported in autistic children, include abnormal or skewed T helper cell type 1 (TH1)/TH2 cytokine profiles, decreased lymphocyte numbers, decreased T cell mitogen response, and the imbalance of serum immunoglobulin levels.

Elevated immune response in the brain of autistic patients. Li X, Chauhan A, Sheikh AM, Patil S, Chauhan V, Li XM, Ji L, Brown T, Malik M.

Department of Neurochemistry, NY State Institute for Basic Research in Developmental Disabilities, NY 10314, New York, USA. xiaohong.li@mssm.edu
This study determined immune activities in the brain of ASD patients and matched normal subjects
by examining cytokines in the brain tissue. Our results showed that proinflammatory cytokines (TNF-
α, IL-6 and GM-CSF), Th1 cytokine (IFN-γ) and chemokine (IL-8) were significantly increased in
the brains of ASD patients compared with the controls.

DETECTION OF AUTOANTIBODIES TO NEURAL CELLS OF THE CEREBELLUM IN THE PLASMA OF SUBJECTS WITH AUTISM SPECTRUM DISORDERS
Sharifia Wills,1,5 Maricel Cabanlit,1,5 Jeff Bennett,2,4 Paul Ashwood,3,4,5 David G. Amaral,2,4 and Judy Van de Water1,4,5; University of California at Davis
Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) are a group of heterogeneous, behaviorally defined disorders characterized by disturbances in social interaction and communication, often with repetitive and stereotyped behavior. Previous studies have described the presence of antibodies to various neural proteins in autistic individuals as well as post-mortem evidence of neuropathology in the cerebellum.

Autoantibodies in Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD)
SHARIFIA WILLS,a MARICEL CABANLIT,a JEFF BENNETT,b PAUL ASHWOOD,b,c DAVID AMARAL,b AND
JUDY VAN DE WATERa
aDivision of Rheumatology, Allergy and Clinical Immunology, UC Davis, Davis, California, USA bThe MIND Institute, UC Davis, Davis, California, USA cDepartment of Medical Microbiology and Immunology, UC Davis, Davis, California, USA
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.

A Review of Autism and the Immune Response
Paul Ashwood and Judy Van de Water
1 Division of Rheumatology, Allergy and Clinical Immunology, Department of Internal Medicine, University of California, Davis, CA, USA,
. There are several aspects of the immune phenomenology thus far reported in ASD that require further investigation. Among these is the suggestion that patients with ASD have an altered or inappropriate response to viruses, the nature, extent and involvement of autoimmune processes in disease, and the importance of mucosal inflammation co-morbidity in some children.