TLR4 and autism: Consistent with findings in the brain, studies examining peripheral myeloid function have revealed increased numbers of circulatory monocytes in the blood and increased cytokine production following TLR4 stimulation in monocytes of children with autism including increased levels of IL-1β, IL-6, and IL-23 and associations with behavioral assessment scores (Sweeten et al., 2003; Jyonouchi et al., 2008; Enstrom et al., 2010).