Zinc in Autism

Autism spectrum disorders (ASD) are neurodevelopmental disorders characterized by their core symptoms-delayed acquisition of speech, deficits in social interactions, and stereotypic behaviors. Although ASD are classically not categorized as neurodegenerative disorders, abnormal biometal levels are tightly associated with the etiology of the disease and are similar to neurodegenerative disorders frequently reported in affected individuals. Further, some shared comorbidities between ASD and neurodegenerative disorders raise the questions whether common impairments have their origin in shared patho-mechanisms with different outcomes, dependent on the developmental time-points of occurrence. Thus, here, we will especially focus on commonalities between dysregulation of zinc levels in neurodevelopmental and neurodegenerative diseases. An overlap in the regulatory pathways affected by these disorders converging at synapses on the cellular level will be highlighted. Further, given the similarities, we will briefly discuss shared therapeutic strategies targeting zinc signaling that show promising results both in ASD and Alzheimer's disease (AD).