Evidence map›Paper›PMID 27871670›Full record

ReviewBiological psychiatry2017

Convergence of Sex Differences and the Neuroimmune System in Autism Spectrum Disorder.

Margaret M McCarthy, Christopher L Wright

Abstract readReview
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Review in Biological psychiatry, 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 86 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
86citing papers in PubMed, 3 pooled it
9.4field-weighted citation impact, top 1% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

86 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 156 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Pooled it
  3. Pooled it
  4. Article
  5. Review
  6. Article
  7. Article
  8. Article
  9. Article
  10. Article
  11. Article
  12. The Neuroimmunology of Autism.Molecular neurobiology · 2025
    Review
  13. Article
  14. Sex-Based Differences in Prenatal and Perinatal Predictors of Autism Spectrum Disorder Using Machine Learning With National Health Data.Autism research : official journal of the International Society for Autism Research · 2025
    Article
  15. Review
  16. Article
  17. Article
  18. Article
  19. Review
  20. Article

26 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

2 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.

Margaret M McCarthyDepartment of Pharmacology and Program in Neuroscience, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland. Electronic address: mmccarth@umaryland.edu.
Christopher L WrightDepartment of Pharmacology and Program in Neuroscience, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland.
University of Maryland, Baltimore · US

Funding

Neuroinflammation, Epigenetics and Male VulnerabilityR01MH052716 · NIMH · UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND BALTIMORE · PI MARGARET M. MCCARTHY · 2000 to 2026
$9.6M
Endocannabinoids regulate microglia in developing brainR01DA039062 · NIDA · UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND BALTIMORE · PI MARGARET M. MCCARTHY · 2016 to 2026
$4.2M
Prostaglandins and Cerebellum DevelopmentR01MH091424 · NIMH · UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND BALTIMORE · PI MCCARTHY, MARGARET M. · 2010 to 2020
$3.8M
NIDA NIH HHS R01 DA039062NIMH NIH HHS R01 MH052716NIMH NIH HHS R01 MH091424
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

The male bias in autism spectrum disorder incidence is among the most extreme of all neuropsychiatric disorders, yet the origins of the sex difference remain obscure. Developmentally, males are exposed to high levels of testosterone and its byproduct, estradiol. Together these steroids modify the course of brain development by altering neurogenesis, cell death, migration, differentiation, dendritic and axonal growth, synaptogenesis, and synaptic pruning, all of which can be deleteriously impacted during the course of developmental neuropsychiatric disorders. Elucidating the cellular mechanisms by which steroids modulate brain development provides valuable insights into how these processes may go awry. An emerging theme is the role of inflammatory signaling molecules and the innate immune system in directing brain masculinization, the evidence for which we review here. Evidence is also emerging that the neuroimmune system is overactivated in individuals with autism spectrum disorder. These combined observations lead us to propose that the natural process of brain masculinization puts males at risk by moving them closer to a vulnerability threshold that could more easily be breached by inflammation during critical periods of brain development. Two brain regions are highlighted: the preoptic area and the cerebellum. Both are developmentally regulated by the inflammatory prostaglandin E2, but in different ways. Microglia, innate immune cells of the brain, and astrocytes are also critical contributors to masculinization and illustrate the importance of nonneuronal cells to the health of the developing brain.

Indexed as

Immunity, InnateNeuroimmunomodulationSex CharacteristicsAnimalsAstrocytesAutism Spectrum DisorderBehavior, AnimalBrainCerebellumDinoprostoneDisease Models, AnimalFemaleHumansInflammationMaleMiceDinoprostoneAndrogensAutism spectrum disorderCerebellumEstrogensMasculinizationMicrogliaPreoptic areaProstaglandins

Identifiers

PMID27871670
PMCPMC5285451
OpenAlexW2531611143

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceTDM
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

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.