Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is believed to stem from defects in the establishment and maintenance of functional neuronal networks due to synaptic/spine dysfunction. The potent effects of IGF‐1 on synaptic function, maintenance, and plasticity make it a potential target for treating ASD. This polypeptide hormone has proven to have beneficial effects in treating related developmental disorders like Rett syndrome, and its efficacy in ASD is currently being investigated in a pilot study. IGF‐1 binds to its receptor (IGF‐1R) in neurons and activates mitogen‐activated protein kinase and PI3K/Akt signaling to produce biological effects on spine function. The PI3K/Akt pathway is dysregulated in ASD, including idiopathic autism, and is thus believed to play a role in the disorder. Despite this, no study has explored the levels of IGF‐1 in the fusiform gyrus of idiopathic autism patients, an area known to be hypoactivated in ASD, and no study has examined IGF‐1R in any part of the brain. The present study explored whether IGF‐1 or IGF‐1R levels are altered in human idiopathic autism. RNA and protein were extracted from post‐mortem human fusiform gyrus tissue of normal controls (n = 20) and subjects with idiopathic autism (n = 15). qRT‐PCR for IGF‐1 and IGF‐1R were performed, along with total IGF‐1 ELISA and IGF‐1Rβ Western blots. The levels of both IGF‐1 and IGF‐1R mRNA and protein were equivalent between the two groups, suggesting that although IGF‐1 may be useful for ASD treatment, IGF‐1 and IGF‐1R are not implicated in the pathogenesis of idiopathic autism. Autism Res 2020, 13: 897‐907. © 2020 International Society for Autism Research, Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

中文翻译：

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胰岛素样生长因子和胰岛素样生长因子受体在人特发性自闭症梭状回组织中的表达。

自闭症谱系障碍（ASD）被认为是由于突触/脊柱功能障碍而导致的功能性神经元网络的建立和维持方面的缺陷。IGF-1对突触功能，维持和可塑性的有效作用使其成为治疗ASD的潜在目标。该多肽激素已被证明对治疗相关的发育障碍（如Rett综合征）具有有益的作用，目前在一项初步研究中正在研究其在ASD中的功效。IGF-1与神经元的受体（IGF-1R）结合并激活促分裂原活化的蛋白激酶和PI3K / Akt信号传导，从而对脊柱功能产生生物学影响。PI3K / Akt通路在ASD中失调，包括特发性自闭症，因此被认为在该疾病中起作用。尽管如此，尚未有研究探讨特发性自闭症患者梭状回中的IGF-1水平，该区域在ASD中被激活不足，也没有研究对大脑任何部位的IGF-1R进行研究。本研究探讨了人类特发性自闭症中IGF-1或IGF-1R水平是否改变。从正常对照的死后人梭状回组织提取RNA和蛋白质（n = 20）和特发性自闭症患者（n = 15）。进行了用于IGF-1和IGF-1R的qRT-PCR以及总的IGF-1 ELISA和IGF-1RβWestern印迹。两组之间的IGF-1和IGF-1R mRNA和蛋白水平相同，这表明尽管IGF-1可能对ASD治疗有用，但IGF-1和IGF-1R并未参与特发性自闭症的发病机制。自闭症水库2020年，13：897-907。©2020国际自闭症研究协会，Wiley Periodicals，Inc.。