No preliminary evidence of differences in astrocyte density within the white matter of the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex in autism.
Ting Ting Lee, Efstratios Skafidas, Mirella Dottori and 4 others
PMID 29234492WHAT IT FOUND
Post-mortem analysis of autism brains found no difference in astrocyte density or size in the white matter compared to controls.
This suggests no gross astrocyte changes in this region, though subtle functional abnormalities or regional differences elsewhere cannot be ruled out.
Key findings
01No significant differences were seen in the density of astrocytes, GFAP-negative glia, or total glia between autism and control groups.
02There was no significant difference in astrocyte somal size or total process length between the groups.
03The authors conclude that gross morphological changes in astrocyte density and activation are not present in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex white matter in autism.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they found
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What it does not show
Small sample size (15 brains total) limits the power to detect subtle differences. Wide age range of participants (4 to 51 years) may mask age-specific developmental changes. Post-mortem tissue only allows for structural assessment, not functional analysis of astrocyte activity. The study focused on one specific brain region (DLPFC white matter); abnormalities may exist in other areas. Comorbid conditions like epilepsy, which affect astrocytes, were not controlled for and may confound results.
Declared interests
The authors declared no conflicts of interest. Funding was provided by the Melbourne Grant Support Scheme, the National Health and Medical Research Council, and the Brain and Behavior Research Foundation.
The easy way to misread this
Do not interpret the lack of gross astrocyte changes in this one brain region as evidence that astrocytes play no role in autism. The authors note that subtle functional abnormalities, regional differences, or changes occurring earlier in development could still be present.