Autism and Il-17A Relationship: Why Does Fever Reduce Autism Symptoms?

Abstract

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a neurological disease that manifests itself with behavioral abnormalities, repetitive behaviors, and socialization problems due to brain development problems. Maternal immune activation (MIA), which occurs as a result of an infection during pregnancy, causes some developmental disorders in the brain of the fetus. Immune response to infection in the mother causes some cytokines such as interleukin-17 (IL-17) to be released, which in turn causes brain damage by affecting the cell differentiation in the fetus. This damage can affect different parts of the brain or systems, leading to ASD symptoms. Features seen in ASD have been associated with the primary somatosensory cortex dysgranular zone (S1DZ) region of the brain and the locus coeruleus/norepinephrine (LC/NE) system. Interestingly, children with autism had a reduction in autism symptoms during fever. It has been observed that children with autism who have difficulty in socializing and who do not make eye contact make eye contact during a fire and their movements become calmer. Related to this issue, it has been observed that some cytokines produced during fever, an inflammatory response, may affect brain function, thereby temporarily suppressing autism symptoms. The purpose of this review is to explain the relationship of autism spectrum disorder with IL-17A and fever through their mechanisms. In the review, the emergence of autism, its general mechanism, the related S1DZ region and LC/NE system in the brain, and why ASD symptoms disappear during fever were discussed.

Cite this article as: Selen Mutlu Z, Güneş B, Erbaş O. Autism and Il-17A Relationship: Why Does Fever Reduce Autism Symptoms?. JEB Med Sci 2021;2(1):86-91.

The authors declared no conflicts of interest with respect to the authorship and/or publication of this article.

The authors received no financial support for the research and/or authorship of this article.