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. 2019 Nov 1;16(11-12):36-39.

Placental Barrier and Autism Spectrum Disorders: The Roles of Prolactin and Dopamine in the Developing Fetal Brain-Part II

Atmaram Yarlagadda  1   2   3   4   5 , Ganesh Acharya  1   2   3   4   5 , Jayaprada Kasaraneni  1   2   3   4   5 , Christiane S Hampe  1   2   3   4   5 , Anita H Clayton  1   2   3   4   5
Affiliations

Placental Barrier and Autism Spectrum Disorders: The Roles of Prolactin and Dopamine in the Developing Fetal Brain-Part II

Atmaram Yarlagadda et al. Innov Clin Neurosci. .

Abstract

The inverse relationship between prolactin and dopamine is important in the context of treatment with antipsychotic medications in men and nonpregnant women with thought disorders. Likewise, increased levels of prolactin as confirmation of recent seizure and the reciprocal levels of prolactin and dopamine in both eclampsia (seizures) and pre-eclampsia might have significant potential effects on a growing fetus. In this article, we attempt to outline the influence of these associations on autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) in children born to mothers with established diagnoses of eclampsia and/or pre-eclampsia. Our previously published paper, "Placental Barrier and Autism Spectrum Disorders: The Role of Prolactin and Dopamine on the Developing Fetal Brain," summarized evidence for dysregulated dopamine and prolactin levels in the etiology of ASDs and suggested a possible method for assessing whether such aberrations increase the risk of ASDs. The present paper as Part 2 expands on the published data that support this theory and proposes a study design to corroborate this hypothesis.

Keywords: autism; dopamine; placenta; prolactin.

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Conflict of interest statement

FUNDING:No funding was provided. DISCLOSURES:The authors have no conflicts of interest relevant to the content of this article.

Figures

FIGURE 1.
FIGURE 1.
Dopamine neuron projections in the brain—Dopamine is produced by neurons in the ventral tegmental area (VTA) and released in the nucleus accumbens and the prefrontal cortex. Dopamine is also produced in the substantia nigra and released in the striatum. Reprinted from OIST Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology, Japan
FIGURE 2.
FIGURE 2.
Factors influencing the development of autism spectrum disorder (ASD)
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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