Abstract
Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a highly heterogeneous neurodevelopmental disorder. Over the past few decades, many studies have investigated the effects of VA supplementation in ASD patients and the relationship between vitamin A (VA) levels and ASD. VA is an essential micronutrient that plays an important role in various systems and biological processes in the form of retinoic acid (RA). Recent studies have shown that serum VA concentration is negatively correlated with the severity of ASD. The lack of VA during pregnancy or early fetal development can affect brain development and lead to long-term or even permanent impairment in the learning process, memory formation, and cognitive function. In addition, VA deficiency has been reported to have a major impact on the gastrointestinal function of children with ASD, while VA supplementation has been shown to improve the symptoms of ASD to a certain extent. This paper provides a comprehensive review of the relationship between VA and ASD.
Highlights
Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a pervasive neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by social interaction deficits and stereotyped and repetitive patterns of behavior, interests, and activities, as well as communication impairment [1]
The development of VA deficiency (VAD) during pregnancy can lead to impaired learning and memory in offspring [44]. These findings suggest that VAD may affect brain development and especially cause alterations in the hippocampus, which can lead to ASDassociated symptoms and the development of ASD (Figure 1)
A study of 33 ASD children and 32 typically developing (TD) controls conducted for 6 months to determine whether vitamin A (VA) supplementation improves autistic-like symptoms [93] found that serum retinol levels were significantly lower in ASD patients than in controls
Summary
Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a pervasive neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by social interaction deficits and stereotyped and repetitive patterns of behavior, interests, and activities, as well as communication impairment [1]. One of the widely accepted views is that genetic and environmental factors contribute to the development of ASD [5]. 70% of the VA in the liver is stored in hepatic stellate cells in the form of retinyl palmitate, and the rest is distributed to various tissues of the body. Stored retinol is released into the bloodstream from hepatic cells and binds to plasma retinolbinding protein 4 (RBP4) produced by hepatocytes. This compound is the major circulating form of VA on an empty stomach [12] and is carried by transthyretin (TTR), which forms a complex with RBP4 and reduces renal excretion of VA [14]. The role of VA is extremely important in vivo
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