Learn English – “lead to” and “lead something/somebody to”

You need to include the word to with the verb lead. Lead to is a phrasal verb that needs both words:

Inflammation can lead to the baby developing an autism-like behavior.

The verb developing is fine there. I would probably omit the indefinite article referring to behavior (although leaving it is is not ungrammatical):

Inflammation can lead to the baby developing autism-like behavior.

There is a subtle difference between "caused" and that version of "lead/led". The first is a direct result:

The driver caused the accident.

The second may not be as direct - it is on the path to the final outcome, but not the only cause:

Because he didn't check the tyres, it led to the accident when he drove in the rain.

In the second version, he may not have had an accident even though the tyres were bad. But put all the circumstances together, and it led to the accident.