Progress on the mechanism of sleep disorder in children with autism spectrum disorder
Autism spectrum disorder(ASD)is a heterogeneous group of neurodevelopmental disorders.The prevalence of ASD increases year by year.Sleep disorder is the common comorbidity of ASD.The pathogenesis is still unknown.The imbalance of excitation/inhibition(E/I)and neuroplasticity changes are the possible pathogenesis of ASD.Early childhood sleep is an important factor affecting E/I balance and neuroplasticity.ASD and sleep disorder may share common pathogenesis.Various genetic variants(such as Shank3,SynGAP,et al)and related chromosomal disease(such as 16p11.2 deletion)and their associated syndromes such as Rett syndrome,Smith-Magenis syndrome,and Angelman syndrome,ect,all manifest both ASD and sleep disorder phenotypes.In addition,melatonin,oxytocin,hypothalamic hormone,serotonin,etc,may participate in the neural pathways of sleep disorder,ASD pathology and neuroplasticity,promoting the incidence of ASD and sleep disorder.Some treatments such as supplementing with melatonin,oxytocin,zinc,iron,and dietary supplements can improve the clinical symptoms of ASD while treating sleep disorder in children with ASD.This article reviews the mechanism of comorbid sleep disorder in children with ASD to improve clinical diagnosis and treatment.