Foetal oestrogens and autism

Elevated latent prenatal steroidogenic activity has been found in the amniotic fluid of autistic boys, based on measuring prenatal androgens and other steroid hormones. To date, it is unclear if other prenatal steroids also contribute to autism likelihood. Prenatal oestrogens need to be investigated...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Molecular psychiatry 2020-11, Vol.25 (11), p.2970-2978
Main Authors: Baron-Cohen, Simon, Tsompanidis, Alexandros, Auyeung, Bonnie, Nørgaard-Pedersen, Bent, Hougaard, David M., Abdallah, Morsi, Cohen, Arieh, Pohl, Alexa
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
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Adult
Amniotic fluid
Androgens
Autism
Autistic Disorder - metabolism
Behavioral Sciences
Biological Psychology
Estradiol
Estriol
Estrogens
Estrogens - metabolism
Estrone
Female
Fetus
Fetus - metabolism
Growth
Humans
Male
Maternal Age
Medicine
Medicine & Public Health
Neurosciences
Paternal Age
Pharmacotherapy
Pregnancy
Pregnant women
Prenatal development
Prenatal Exposure Delayed Effects - metabolism
Progesterone
Psychiatry
Sex differentiation
Steroid hormones
Synaptogenesis
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Summary:Elevated latent prenatal steroidogenic activity has been found in the amniotic fluid of autistic boys, based on measuring prenatal androgens and other steroid hormones. To date, it is unclear if other prenatal steroids also contribute to autism likelihood. Prenatal oestrogens need to be investigated, as they play a key role in synaptogenesis and corticogenesis during prenatal development, in both males and females. Here we test whether levels of prenatal oestriol, oestradiol, oestrone and oestrone sulphate in amniotic fluid are associated with autism, in the same Danish Historic Birth Cohort, in which prenatal androgens were measured, using univariate logistic regression ( n   =  98 cases, n   =  177 controls). We also make a like-to-like comparison between the prenatal oestrogens and androgens. Oestradiol, oestrone, oestriol and progesterone each related to autism in univariate analyses after correction with false discovery rate. A comparison of standardised odds ratios showed that oestradiol, oestrone and progesterone had the largest effects on autism likelihood. These results for the first time show that prenatal oestrogens contribute to autism likelihood, extending the finding of elevated prenatal steroidogenic activity in autism. This likely affects sexual differentiation, brain development and function.
ISSN:1359-4184
1476-5578
DOI:10.1038/s41380-019-0454-9