Medicinal Effect of Zinc for the cure of Autism Spectrum Disorder

Abstract

Autism spectrum is a disorder of cognitive deficiency and repetitive-sensory functionality and behavior. Due to uncertain diagnosis on the base of biomarker, it could be diagnosed on the base of clinical presentation for example irritable behavior towards social circle, and tendency of being isolate themselves along with speech problems and diminished interest in daily activities of life. ASD prevalence has been noticed high in male than females. There are about 350,000 autistic patients in Pakistan. Early screening and social awareness are the most controlled way to overcome the severity of disorder. Among the risk factor of maternal pathology, pollution and use of drugs, diet lacked mainly in zinc and other micro nutrients during phase of pregnancy play important role to affect the fetus brain function and structure. Autistic child being deficient in zinc nutrient affects their dietary choices in a way that their taste buds and olfactory sense don’t function well in food selection that is highly depend on zinc function in body result in malnutrition in the ASD children. This behavior shows a strong relation between high zinc diet and control of Autism symptoms. Ketogenic diet, gluten and casein free diets might be beneficial in autism according to some studies. Zinc, being the utmostrich trace metal in brain and is very crucial for neurodevelopment and pathological process of autism. SHANK proteins are principal scaffolding proteins and are vital for synthesis and function of synapses. The mutation in shank genes result in impairment of nerve transmission in autism patients. Zinc level is associated with optimal functioning of shank proteins and its deficiency may lead to inactivation of these proteins. In this review, we have discussed the regulation of SHANK 3 and its activation which are zinc dependent and result the elevated synaptic transmission.