A MINI-REVIEW ON THE LATEST DEVELOPMENTS OF THE AUTISTIC PATHOLOGY AND
A DESCRIPTION OF SOME RELEVANT ANIMAL MODELS
Catalina IONESCU1,4,
Ioana FARCAȘ1, Alin CIOBICA1,2,3,4, Manuela PADURARIU5,
Sorin CIMPEANU1, Mirela CIMPEANU1, Lucian GORGAN1
1 Department
of Biology, Faculty of Biology, Alexandru Ioan Cuza University of Iași,
Bd. Carol I no. 20A, 700505 Iași, Romania
2 Centre of Biomedical Research, Romanian Academy,
Bd. Carol I, no. 8, 700506 Iași, Romania
3 Academy
of Romanian Scientists, 3 Ilfov St., 050044, Bucharest, Romania
4 Preclinical Department, Apollonia
University, Păcurari Street 11, 700511 Iași, Romania
5 "Socola" Institute of Psychiatry,
Șoseaua Bucium 36, Iași 700282, Iași, Romania
Coressponding authors:
Manuela Pădurăria "Socola" Institute of Psychiatry,
Șoseaua Bucium 36, Iași 700282, Iași, Romania, Mail: manuelapadurariu@yahoo.it
ABSTRACT
Autism spectrum disorders along with other neurodevelopmental
disorders, constitutes psychiatric conditions considered public health issues
with a strong socioeconomic impact. The
onset of autism is before the age of 3 and characterised by aberrant social
interactions, communication problems with language deficits and restrictive and
repetitive behaviors. The etiology of autism is not well understand, but both
environmental and genetic factors may be involved probably in a interactional
model type. The key symptoms of autism spectrum disorders have been intensively
studied using genetic animal models and also the valproic acid (VPA)-induced model. The
existence of such animal models of autism could allow for a rigorous evaluation
of the effects produced by environmental factors on the behavioral expression
of neuropathological deficits in VPA-treated animals.
Keywords:
autism, neurodevelopmental disorders, genetic factors, animal models (VPA)
DOI
https://doi.org/10.56082/annalsarscibio.2024.1.166
