Journal Article

Prenatal and early-life diesel exhaust exposure causes autism-like behavioral changes in mice

Cole, Toby B., Costa, Lucio G., Chang, Yu-Chi

2018

Overview

Background Escalating prevalence of autism spectrum disorders (ASD) in recent decades has triggered increasing efforts in understanding roles played by environmental risk factors as a way to address this widespread public health concern. Several epidemiological studies show associations between developmental exposure to traffic-related air pollution and increased ASD risk. In rodent models, a limited number of studies have shown that developmental exposure to ambient ultrafine particulates or diesel exhaust (DE) can result in behavioral phenotypes consistent with mild ASD. We performed a series of experiments to determine whether developmental DE exposure induces ASD-related behaviors in mice. Results C57Bl/6J mice were exposed from embryonic day 0 to postnatal day 21 to 250–300 μg/m 3 DE or filtered air (FA) as control. Mice exposed developmentally to DE exhibited deficits in all three of the hallmark categories of ASD behavior: reduced social interaction in the reciprocal interaction and social preference tests, increased repetitive behavior in the T-maze and marble-burying test, and reduced or altered communication as assessed by measuring isolation-induced ultrasonic vocalizations and responses to social odors. Conclusions These findings demonstrate that exposure to traffic-related air pollution, in particular that associated with diesel-fuel combustion, can cause ASD-related behavioral changes in mice, and raise concern about air pollution as a contributor to the onset of ASD in humans.

• Publisher: BioMed Central,BioMed Central Ltd,BMC
• Subject: Air Pollutants - toxicity / Air pollution / Animals / Animals, Newborn / Autism / Autistic Disorder - chemically induced / Autistic Disorder - physiopathology / Behavior / Behavior, Animal - drug effects / Biomedical and Life Sciences / Biomedicine / Diesel exhaust / Diesel motor exhaust gas / Disease Models, Animal / Environmental Health / Female / Gestational Age / Health aspects / Inhalation Exposure - adverse effects / Maze Learning - drug effects / Medical research / Medicine, Experimental / Mice / Mice, Inbred C57BL / Nanotechnology / Pervasive developmental disorders / Pharmacology/Toxicology / Pneumology/Respiratory System / Pregnancy / Prenatal Exposure Delayed Effects - chemically induced / Prenatal Exposure Delayed Effects - physiopathology / Prenatal influences / Psychological aspects / Public Health / Risk factors / Vehicle Emissions - toxicity