ABSTRACT
This chapter is written from the perspective of the gastroenterologist. It seeks to summarize the evidence that viral exposure leading to an initial extracranial infection may be associated, indirectly or directly, with neuropsychiatric pathology. The focus is largely upon autism and gastrointestinal (GI) inflammation although recent reports suggest that the GI findings may be relevant to a broader spectrum of developmental disorders.1,2
Autism, like hepatic encephalopathy, is a behavioral syndrome that reflects cerebral dysfunction. Both may be the final common expression of a variety of different initiating insults, including primary genetic disorders, infection, toxic injury, and autoimmune disease. Can autism be caused by a viral infection and, if so, what is the pathogenetic chain of events that links exposure to neuropathology?
