AccScience Publishing / AN / Volume 1 / Issue 3 / DOI: 10.36922/an.v1i3.167
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Mechanism of action and therapeutic targeting of microglia in autism spectrum disorder

Yangming Zhang1† Yuqiao Xie1† Zishuo Cheng1† Yanran Zhang1 Wenting Wang1 Baolin Guo1* Shengxi Wu1*
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1 Department of Neurobiology, School of Basic Medicine, Fourth Military Medical University, Xi’an, Shaanxi, China
Advanced Neurology 2022, 1(3), 167 https://doi.org/10.36922/an.v1i3.167
Submitted: 4 August 2022 | Accepted: 13 October 2022 | Published: 28 October 2022
© 2022 by the Author(s). This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License ( https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ )
Abstract

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a complex mental illness with a high incidence and considerable impact. More than half of the affected individuals have self-harm behaviors, resulting in high mortality and morbidity. The impact of ASD on education and employment opportunities, the need for family care and support, as well as the burden on families and society is enormous. The underlying pathogenesis of ASD is still unclear, and effective interventions are lacking. Microglia are key immune cells in the central nervous system (CNS), and they function far beyond classical innate immunity, as they can affect normal neuronal activity by secreting cytokines and pruning synapses through phagocytosis. On the one hand, the abnormal activity of microglia may contribute to the development of ASD; on the other hand, it provides a potential target for intervention and treatment. In this review, we comprehensively analyze the mechanism of action of microglia in ASD development and summarize the current methods for targeting microglia in treating ASD.

Keywords
Autism spectrum disorder
Microglia
Neuroinflammation
Cellular immunotherapy
Funding
Science and Technology Innovation 2030 Project of China
Natural Science Foundation of China
Natural Science Basic Research Program of Shaanxi
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Conflict of interest
The authors declare that they have no competing interests.
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