Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40247126›Full record

SynthesisMolecular psychiatry2025

Animal studies reveal downregulation of the Beclin-1 autophagy pathway as shared mechanism in Autism Spectrum Disorder: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

A Abromeit, C R Hooijmans, C LeMaoult, C M Drion, Mjh Kas

Abstract readSystematic ReviewMeta-Analysis
In one paragraph

Synthesis in Molecular psychiatry, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
3citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

3 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Review
  3. Intermittent Fasting andNutrients · 2026
    Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

5 authors.

A AbromeitFaculty of Science and Engineering, Groningen Institute for Evolutionary Life Sciences, University of Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-7752-2163
C R HooijmansDepartment of Anaesthesiology, Pain and Palliative Care, Radboud University Medical Center, Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
C LeMaoultFaculty of Science and Engineering, Groningen Institute for Evolutionary Life Sciences, University of Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands.
C M DrionFaculty of Science and Engineering, Groningen Institute for Evolutionary Life Sciences, University of Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands. c.m.drion@rug.nl.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-3926-3110
Mjh KasFaculty of Science and Engineering, Groningen Institute for Evolutionary Life Sciences, University of Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands. m.j.h.kas@rug.nl.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-4471-8618

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundAutism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a heterogeneous neurodevelopmental condition with complex etiology, involving genetic and environmental influences on brain development and behavior. Dysregulation of mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) signaling alters neuronal growth and synaptic plasticity, and has emerged as a potential underlying pathway in ASD. GOAL AND

methodsTo investigate mTOR dysregulation as a common mechanism in ASD, we performed a systematic review, and a meta-analysis of 192 studies examining mTOR signaling in diverse genetic and environmental animal models.

resultsOur random-effects model identified significant alterations in mTOR pathway-related proteins. For several proteins (p-AKT, PTEN, p-mTOR, p-EIF4e, LC3-II, p-S6K and p-S6), subgroup analyses revealed clear species-, sex-, age-, or brain region-specific effects. Interestingly, Beclin-1 was consistently downregulated across all subgroups.

conclusionOur findings support mTOR-pathway dysregulation in ASD. The observed consistent downregulation of Beclin-1 highlights autophagy as a common mechanism, and provides new leads for novel ASD biomarker and treatment development.

Indexed as

Autism Spectrum DisorderAutophagyBeclin-1AnimalsBrainDisease Models, AnimalDown-RegulationHumansSignal TransductionTOR Serine-Threonine KinasesBeclin-1TOR Serine-Threonine Kinases

Identifiers

PMID40247126
PMCPMC12240847

What Socratic holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY-NC-ND
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.