Prenatal Sex Hormone Exposure Is Associated with the Development of Autism Spectrum Disorder.
Int J Mol Sci
; 24(3)2023 Jan 22.
Article
in En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-36768521
ABSTRACT
Sexual differentiation is a major developmental process. Sex differences resulting from sexual differentiation have attracted the attention of researchers. Unraveling what contributes to and underlies sex differences will provide valuable insights into the development of neurodevelopmental disorders that exhibit sex biases. Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder that affects an individual's social interaction and communication abilities, and its male preponderance has been consistently reported in clinical studies. The etiology of male preponderance remains unclear, but progress has been made in studying prenatal sex hormone exposure. The present review examined studies that focused on the association between prenatal testosterone exposure and ASD development, as well as sex-specific behaviors in individuals with ASD. This review also included studies on maternal immune activation-induced developmental abnormalities that also showed striking sex differences in offspring and discussed its possible interacting roles in ASD so as to present a potential approach for future studies on sex biases in ASD.
Key words
Full text:
1
Collection:
01-internacional
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Prenatal Exposure Delayed Effects
/
Neurodevelopmental Disorders
/
Autism Spectrum Disorder
Type of study:
Etiology_studies
/
Risk_factors_studies
Limits:
Female
/
Humans
/
Male
/
Pregnancy
Language:
En
Journal:
Int J Mol Sci
Year:
2023
Document type:
Article
Affiliation country:
Japan