ArticleJournal of neuroinflammation2012
Etiology of autistic features: the persisting neurotoxic effects of propionic acid.
Article in Journal of neuroinflammation, 2012. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 112 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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Who cites it
112 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 210 citations in OpenAlex.
- Convergent blood-brain barrier breakdown in schizophrenia and autism spectrum disorders: a systematic review of preclinical animal models.Fluids and barriers of the CNS · 2026Pooled it
- Nrf2 Activators as Dietary Phytochemicals Against Oxidative Stress, Inflammation, and Mitochondrial Dysfunction in Autism Spectrum Disorders: A Systematic Review.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2020Pooled it
- Article
- Total Saponins of Panax Notoginseng Leaves Modulate the "Microglial-NLRP3/Caspase-1" Axis associated with Gut Microbial/SCFAs Alterations: Correlative Insights into Cognitive Improvement in Senescence.Molecular neurobiology · 2026Article
- Metabolic toxicity and neurological dysfunction in methylmalonic acidemia: from mechanisms to therapeutics.Molecular medicine (Cambridge, Mass.) · 2025Review
- Associations between the gut microbiota at one-year and neurodevelopment in children from the SEPAGES cohort.Brain, behavior, & immunity - health · 2025Article
- The Effects of Fecal Microbial Transplantation on the Symptoms in Autism Spectrum Disorder, Gut Microbiota and Metabolites: A Scoping Review.Microorganisms · 2025Review
- Impact of GABA and nutritional supplements on neurochemical biomarkers in autism: a PPA rodent model study.Frontiers in molecular neuroscience · 2025Article
- Luteolin mitigates oxidative stress and multi-organ impairment in a propionic acid-induced rodent model of autism.Frontiers in nutrition · 2025Article
- Commentary:Frontiers in cellular and infection microbiology · 2025Article
- Therapeutic effects ofFrontiers in pharmacology · 2025Article
- Decoding the peripheral transcriptomic and meta-genomic response to music in autism spectrum disorder via saliva-based RNA sequencing.Frontiers in molecular biosciences · 2025Article
- Article
- Opioid Use and Gut Dysbiosis in Cancer Pain Patients.International journal of molecular sciences · 2024Review
- Cannabinoids' Role in Modulating Central and Peripheral Immunity in Neurodegenerative Diseases.International journal of molecular sciences · 2024Review
- Review
- Article
- The causal association between gut microbiota and postpartum depression: a two-sample Mendelian randomization study.Frontiers in microbiology · 2024Article
- Impact of propionic acid-rich diets on microbial composition of the murine gut microbiome.Frontiers in microbiomes · 2024Article
- In a rodent model of autism, probiotics decrease gut leakiness in relation to gene expression of GABA receptors: Emphasize how crucial the gut-brain axis.Translational neuroscience · 2024Article
52 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
3 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundRecent clinical observations suggest that certain gut and dietary factors may transiently worsen symptoms in autism. Propionic acid (PA) is a short chain fatty acid and an important intermediate of cellular metabolism. Although PA has several beneficial biological effects, its accumulation is neurotoxic.
methodsTwo groups of young Western albino male rats weighing about 45 to 60 grams (approximately 21 days old) were used in the present study. The first group consisted of oral buffered PA-treated rats that were given a neurotoxic dose of 250 mg/kg body weight/day for three days, n = eight; the second group of rats were given only phosphate buffered saline and used as a control. Biochemical parameters representing oxidative stress, energy metabolism, neuroinflammation, neurotransmission, and apoptosis were investigated in brain homogenates of both groups.
resultsBiochemical analyses of brain homogenates from PA-treated rats showed an increase in oxidative stress markers (for example, lipid peroxidation), coupled with a decrease in glutathione (GSH) and glutathione peroxidase (GPX) and catalase activities. Impaired energy metabolism was ascertained through the decrease of lactate dehydrogenase and activation of creatine kinase (CK). Elevated IL-6, TNFα, IFNγ and heat shock protein 70 (HSP70) confirmed the neuroinflammatory effect of PA. Moreover, elevation of caspase3 and DNA fragmentation proved the pro-apoptotic and neurotoxic effect of PA to rat pups
conclusionBy comparing the results obtained with those from animal models of autism or with clinical data on the biochemical profile of autistic patients, this study showed that the neurotoxicity of PA as an environmental factor could play a central role in the etiology of autistic biochemical features.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.