BRIEF RESEARCH REPORT article
Front. Med.
Sec. Obstetrics and Gynecology
This article is part of the Research TopicNeuroplacentology: From "Start-up" to "Start-map"View all 4 articles
Dysregulated levels of proangiogenic proteins in the placentas of children with autism spectrum disorder and attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder
Provisionally accepted
Carlos Alonso Escudero1*
Cristian Celis2Felipe Troncoso2
Eduardo Lopez3Estefanny Escudero-Guevara2
Jesenia Acurio2- 1University of the Bío Bío, Concepción, Chile
- 2Universidad del Bio-Bio - Sede Chillan, Chillán, Chile
- 3Universidad Catolica de la Santisima Concepcion, Concepción, Chile
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Placental vascularization may influence fetal brain development, but its long-term impact on neurodevelopment remains unclear. In this pilot study, we analyzed two ligand proteins: vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and placental growth factor (PLGF), and their receptors mRNA and protein levels in placentas from children who later were diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), or controls. ASD placentas showed lower VEGF, PLGF, and KDR protein levels but higher FLT1, while ADHD placentas had increased FLT1 and reduced VEGF mRNA. These findings suggest distinct placental vascular alterations in ASD and ADHD, highlighting a potential role of the placenta-brain axis in neurodevelopmental disorders and early-life mechanisms underlying impaired brain development.
Keywords: Placenta, VEGF family, Autism Spectrum Disorder, attention- deficit/hyperactivity disorder, Angiogenesis
Received: 27 Aug 2025; Accepted: 29 Oct 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Escudero, Celis, Troncoso, Lopez, Escudero-Guevara and Acurio. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Carlos Alonso Escudero, cescudero@ubiobio.cl
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