• Hongen Wei, Kathryn K Chadman, Daniel P McCloskey, Ashfaq M Sheikh, Mazhar Malik, W Ted Brown, and Xiaohong Li.
• Department of Neurochemistry, NY State Institute for Basic Research in Developmental Disabilities, New York, NY 10314, USA.
• Biochim. Biophys. Acta. 2012 Jun 1;1822(6):831-42.

AbstractAbnormal immune responses have been reported to be associated with autism. A number of studies showed that cytokines were increased in the blood, brain, and cerebrospinal fluid of autistic subjects. Elevated IL-6 in autistic brain has been a consistent finding. However, the mechanisms by which IL-6 may be involved in the pathogenesis of autism are not well understood. Here we show that mice with elevated IL-6 in the brain display many autistic features, including impaired cognitive abilities, deficits in learning, abnormal anxiety traits and habituations, as well as decreased social interactions. IL-6 elevation caused alterations in excitatory and inhibitory synaptic formations and disrupted the balance of excitatory/inhibitory synaptic transmissions. IL-6 elevation also resulted in an abnormal change in the shape, length and distributing pattern of dendritic spines. These findings suggest that IL-6 elevation in the brain could mediate autistic-like behaviors, possibly through the imbalances of neural circuitry and impairments of synaptic plasticity.Published by Elsevier B.V.

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