In utero exposure to valproic acid and autism — A current review of clinical and animal studies

TL;DR: A critical review of the literature on butyrate and its effects on multiple aspects of host physiology with a focus on brain function and behaviour is provided and it is hypothesised that butyrates and other volatile SCFAs produced by microbes may be involved in regulating the impact of the microbiome on behaviour including social communication.

TL;DR: Evidence for ENS dysfunction is reviewed in the aetiopathogenesis of autism spectrum disorder, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, transmissible spongiform encephalopathies, Parkinson disease and Alzheimer disease, and animal models suggest that common pathophysiological mechanisms account for the frequency of gastrointestinal comorbidity in these conditions.

TL;DR: The VPA model provides a valuable tool to investigate the neurobiology underlying autistic behavior and to screen for novel therapeutics, highlighting its importance and reliability as an environmentally-induced animal model of autism.

TL;DR: Since VPA modulates DNA transcription through HDACs, recent evidences point to its use as an anti-nociceptive in migraine prophylaxis, and, even more interestingly, as a positive modulator of chemotherapy in cancer treatment.

TL;DR: There is evidence that changes in case definition and improved awareness explain much of the upward trend of rates in recent decades, however, available epidemiological surveys do not provide an adequate test of the hypothesis of a changing incidence of PDDs.

TL;DR: This report provides updated ASD prevalence estimates from the 2008 surveillance year, representing 14 ADDM areas in the United States and characteristics of the population of children with ASDs are described, as well as detailed comparisons of the 2008 findings with those for the 2002 and 2006 surveillance years.

TL;DR: A new standardized procedure to quantitate sociability and preference for social novelty in mice provides a method to assess tendencies for social avoidance in mouse models of autism.

TL;DR: Interestingly, all behavioral aberrations described in this paper appear before puberty, which could distinguish the VPA rat model of autism from other animal models of neurodevelopmental disorders, especially rodent models of schizophrenia.