Abstract
Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder, where social and communication deficits and repetitive behaviors are present. Plant-derived bioactives have shown promising results in the treatment of autism. In this sense, this review is aimed at providing a careful view on the use of plant-derived bioactive molecules for the treatment of autism. Among the plethora of bioactives, curcumin, luteolin, and resveratrol have revealed excellent neuroprotective effects and can be effectively used in the treatment of neuropsychological disorders. However, the number of clinical trials is limited, and none of them have been approved for the treatment of autism or autism-related disorder. Further clinical studies are needed to effectively assess the real potential of such bioactive molecules.
Highlights
Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a set of behavioral and neurodevelopmental diseases featuring social and communication deficits accompanied by increased repetitive and/or restrictive behaviors [1]
Some evidences have indicated controversial results in terms of environmental factors and ASD development. These studies suggest that environmental factors, such as vaccination, advanced parental age, maternal smoking, pregnancy and birth complications, thimerosal exposure, deficiency of vitamin D, and reproductive technologies have strongly correlated with ASD [16, 24, 25], but few studies showed no relation with ASD risk [24]
Changes in glutamate metabolism have been implicated in ASD, with glutamate being postulated as a likely cause of mitochondrial dysfunction and selective Purkinje neuron degeneration stated in ASD [8]
Summary
Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a set of behavioral and neurodevelopmental diseases featuring social and communication deficits accompanied by increased repetitive and/or restrictive behaviors [1]. As a result of the limited treatment options available to improve ASD symptoms, financial challenges, and drugs side effects, dietary and nutritional approaches are becoming popular components of ASD management [14, 15]. In this sense, the present review is aimed at providing a brief overview on ADS and related pathophysiology, as well as on the promissory therapeutic abilities evidenced by plant-food bioactives
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