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Advanced Neurology

REVIEW ARTICLE
Understanding the link between

immunosuppressant and natural killer cell in
the progression of autism: The role of natural

killer cell and mammalian target of rapamycin in
autistic brain

Piyush Anandand and Shamsher Singh*
Neuropharmacology Division, Department of Pharmacology, ISF College of Pharmacy, Moga,
142001, Punjab, India

Abstract

Natural killer cell plays a major role in the pathogenesis of neurodevelopmental
disorder including autism spectrum disorder (ASD). ASD is a neurodevelopmental
disorder that is associated with symptoms that reduce the quality of life of affected
individuals such as social interaction deficit, cognitive impairment, intellectual
disabilities, restricted, and repetitive behavioral patterns. This disorder begins
in early childhood and continues throughout adulthood. ASD pathogenesis
is associated with alteration in natural killer (NK) cells as well as mammalian
target of rapamycin signaling functioning that leads to altered physiological
*Corresponding author: processes during development. Here, we review literature highlighting the role of
Shamsher Singh
(shamshersingh@isfcp.org) immunosuppressants especially rapamycin and azathioprine and their impact on
treating the neurodevelopmental disorder and mechanism by which these drugs
Citation: Anand P, Singh S, 2023,
Understanding the link between may act to ameliorate the autistic symptoms. Furthermore, this review discusses
immunosuppressant and natural reports highlighting the role of NK cells and familial adenomatous polyposis gene
killer cell in the progression of in the etiology of ASD. This review suggests that further investigative work on these
autism: The role of natural killer cell
and mammalian target of rapamycin drugs could be vital in the management of ASD.
in autistic brain. Adv Neuro,
2(2): 391.
https://doi.org/10.36922/an.391 Keywords: Natural Killer cell; Rapamycin; Azathioprine; Immune response; Mammalian
Received: February 23, 2023 target of rapamycin
Accepted: May 2, 2023
Published Online: May 19, 2023
Copyright: © 2023 Author(s). 1. Introduction
This is an Open-Access article Autism is a complex neuropsychiatric disorder that is marked by early-onset social
distributed under the terms of the
Creative Commons Attribution communication problems and repetitive sensory-motor behaviors. Males are far more
License, permitting distribution, likely to be affected by autism than females [1,2] . This disorder, which begins in early
and reproduction in any medium,
provided the original work is childhood and continues throughout adulthood, is characterized by serious difficulty
properly cited. with social interaction, language, and the use of confined, repetitive behavior. At present,
Publisher’s Note: AccScience no single cause of autism has been identified. Motor indicators of cerebellar impairment,
Publishing remains neutral with such as fine and gross motor deficits, eye movement disturbances, altered gait, and
regard to jurisdictional claims in
published maps and institutional balance, as well as coordination, motor learning impairments, and postural instability,
affiliations. seem to be present in the majority of individuals who have autism. Despite the fact that

Volume 2 Issue 2 (2023) 1 https://doi.org/10.36922/an.391