Conclusion
The incidence of autism has increased dramatically over the past two
decades. While its causal factors are most certainly multifactorial
(toxicants, genetics, nutrient deficiencies, etc.), there are numerous
cellular and biochemical pathologies that are shared by virtually all
individuals with the condition. This paper has focused on what we
believe to be a prime suspect as a causal environmental factor,
glyphosate exposure. We have itemized several biochemical and
histological pathologies associated with autism throughout this paper.
We weave into this narrative a review of the literature to show
substantial evidence that exposure to glyphosate has also been
associated with the same pathologies found in individuals with autism.
We also highlight a unique role for melatonin in protecting against
development of those same neurological pathologies, and review evidence
that glyphosate exposure also suppresses melatonin production.
Another prominent focus of this paper is on what we believe to be the
most important pathways through which glyphosate, melatonin suppression,
glutamate neuroexcitotoxicity and potentially other causal factors lead
to the phenotype of autism, namely suppression of cellular isomerase
PIN1 activity. Its suppression, whether by glyphosate exposure,
melatonin deficiency, DAPK1 activation, glutathione deficiency,
oxidative stress, or other causes, is the first domino to fall,
initiating a long series of downstream events that result in all the
underlying pathological changes we have catalogued as associated with
autism. Because of both the direct and indirect role PIN1 plays in so
many cellular regulatory pathways and processes, its loss of activity
has catastrophic consequences leading to autism pathology. This becomes
perhaps most explicitly manifest in the developing neurological system
of infants and children, making them most vulnerable to the pathological
changes PIN1 suppression induces. Figure 3 provides a graphical
representation of the processes we have identified in this paper leading
to autism in children.