An updated systematic review on the maternal exposure to environmental pesticides and involved mechanisms of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) progression risk in children

Abstract

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) increased dramatically over the past 25 years because of genetic and environmental factors. This systematic review (SR) aimed to determine the association between maternal exposure during pregnancy to environmental pesticides and other associations with the risk of ASD progression in children. PubMed (MEDLINE), Scopus (Elsevier) and the Institute for Scientific Information (ISI) Web of Science were searched using appropriate keywords up to March 2021. Twenty-four studies met the inclusion/exclusion criteria and were selected. Most studies reported that ASD increases the risk of offspring after prenatal exposure to environmental pesticides in pregnant mother's residences, against offspring of women from the same region without this exposure. The main potential mechanisms inducing ASD progressions are ROS and prostaglandin E2 synthesis, AChE inhibition, voltage-gated sodium channel disruption, and GABA inhibition. According to the included studies, the highest rates of ASD diagnosis increased relative to organophosphates, and the application of the most common pesticides near residences might enhance the prevalence of ASD.

Keywords: autism spectrum disorder; environmental pesticides; maternal exposure; neurobehavior; pregnancy.