A Personalized Medicine Approach to the Diagnosis and Management of Autism Spectrum Disorder: Biological Targets for Effective Treatments

Dear Colleagues,

Background: Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) now affects more than 2% of children, and its prevalence continues to increase. At present, there is no curative treatment, and current therapies provide suboptimal habilitation to many of the affected individuals; for many, this leads to ASD being framed as a lifelong disorder, rather than simply a disorder isolated to childhood. The significant heterogeneity of ASD has made the development of diagnostic tools and treatments challenging. Rather than treating symptoms, it would be optimal for treatments to target biological mechanisms underlying ASD. Treatment targets include genetic, metabolic, neurophysiologic, immune, and gastrointestinal targets, to name a few. This is the third in a series of Special Issues aimed at defining better treatment of individuals with ASD using a personalized medicine approach. Our two previous Special Issues have provided insight into the application of personalized medicine to enhance the diagnosis and detection of these pathophysiological processes and predict the response of individuals with ASD to treatment (refer to the first edition: https://www.mdpi.com/journal/jpm/special_issues/Personalized_Medicine_Approach_ASD; the second edition: https://www.mdpi.com/journal/jpm/special_issues/91FSO3ICV2).

Aim and scope: Our aim is to publish high-impact articles describing a personalized medicine approach for the diagnosis, classification, and treatment of ASD. This year, we wish to focus on studies that are defining treatment targets in order to facilitate more effective treatments.

History: ASD is a difficult disorder to diagnose and treat, both because its diagnosis is traditionally not based on objective biomarkers and because there are numerous underlying pathophysiological processes, which may be difficult to detect. The treatment response is extremely variable, and the biomarkers used to predict response are limited. Thus, a personalized medicine approach could greatly benefit this population.

Cutting-edge research: We welcome the submission of articles that describe the genetic, epigenetic, physiologic, metabolic, immunological, microbiome, behavior, educational, and societal factors that are targets for treatment of ASD.

What kind of papers we are soliciting: We encourage the submission of manuscripts that describe a personalized medicine approach for the diagnosis, classification, and treatment of ASD, particularly those that describe targets for treatments.

Prof. Dr. Richard E. Frye
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Journal of Personalized Medicine is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

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