Future perspectives on cell therapy for autism spectrum disorder

Abstract

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a complex neurodevelopmental condition characterized by impairments in social communication, abnormal to absent verbal communication, the presence of repetitive stereotypic verbal and nonverbal behaviors and restricted interests, with onset early in life. We showed cognitive and behavioral characteristics of ASD by impairment of communication, cognition, perception, motor skills, executive function, theory of mind and emotion control. Recently, pathogenesis of immune pathology in the brains of individuals with ASD has been focused. New therapeutic approaches in the viewpoints of immune modulation and microglial function are logical for novel treatments for individuals with ASD. Cell therapies such as umbilical cord blood cells and mesenchymal stromal cells for ASD will be a challenging and encouraging field in the future clinical study with progress of biotechnological science.