Association Of Autism Spectrum Disorder Research Articles

Association of Autism Spectrum Disorders and Inflammatory Bowel Disease.

Autism spectrum disorders (ASD) and inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) both have multifactorial pathogenesis with an increasing number of studies demonstrating gut-brain associations. We aim to examine the association between ASD and IBD using strict classification criteria for IBD. We conducted a retrospective case-cohort study using records from the Military Health System database with IBD defined as having one encounter with an ICD-9-CM diagnostic code for IBD and at least one outpatient prescription dispensed for a medication to treat IBD. Children with ASD were more likely to meet criteria for Crohn's disease (CD) and Ulcerative colitis (UC) compared to controls. This higher prevalence of CD and UC in children with ASD compared to controls confirms the association of ASD with IBD.

Tu1741 - Association of Autism Spectrum Disorders and Inflammatory Bowel Disease

Tu1741 - Association of Autism Spectrum Disorders and Inflammatory Bowel Disease

Systematic review and meta-analysis of the association of Autism Spectrum Disorder in visually or hearing impaired children.

To determine whether there is an association with a congenital visual or hearing impairment (VI or HI) and Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) in children. A systematic literature review was performed using nine relevant databases limited to peer reviewed articles in English between 1994 and January 2016. The search identified 1248 articles after duplicates were removed with subsequent screening of the abstracts excluding a further 1199, resulting in 49 full-text articles that were then independently assessed by five of the authors with a final 15 articles meeting the inclusion criteria. Bias assessment was determined through consensus of the first five authors. A meta-analysis of the included studies was performed to estimate the relative risk of ASD in the VI and HI groups compared to the general population based on reported prevalence rates in similar geographical regions. Overall prevalence rates for ASD were calculated from the combined studies in the VI and HI populations. The overall prevalence of ASD in VI and HI populations was 19% (95% CI 13-25%) and 9% (95% CI 6-12%) respectively. The overall risk-ratio of ASD was greater in the VI 31.0 times (95% CI 18.62-51.56); z=13.21, p<0.001) and HI groups 14.1 times (95% CI 3.41-58.62; z=3.65, p<0.001) compared to reported ASD prevalence in the general population. There is a high association of ASD in VI or HI children and therefore these populations should be assessed for ASD in the presence of a visual or hearing disability.

The Association of Autism Spectrum Disorders and Symptoms of Asthma, Allergic Rhinoconjunctivitis and Eczema among Japanese Children Aged 3 - 6 Years

There is insufficient epidemiological evidence on the relationship between autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and allergic diseases. We performed a cross-sectional survey to elucidate the associations between them using validated screening tools. The participants were children aged 3 - 6 years attending kindergarten or nursery school in Shika Town, Japan (n = 417; valid response rate = 80.4%). Autism spectrum features were scored on the Social Communication Questionnaire (SCQ). Allergic symptoms (asthma, allergic rhinoconjunctivitis, and eczema) were determined according to the criteria of the International Study of Asthma and Allergies in Childhood. A total of 15 children (4.5%) had an SCQ score of 11 points or higher. The prevalence of symptoms was 14.7% for asthma, and 5.3% for allergic rhinoconjunctivitis, and 11.4% for eczema. Logistic regression indicated that symptoms of eczema were significantly associated with SCQ scores of 11 points or higher [odds ratio (OR), 4.38; 95% confidence interval (CI), 1.41 - 13.59]. The association persisted after adjustment for age, sex, and BMI (OR, 3.84; 95% CI, 1.20 - 12.24). Moreover, asthmatic symptoms were significantly associated with male sex (OR, 2.09; 95% CI, 1.12 - 3.92) and overweight status (OR, 2.45; 95% CI, 1.03 - 5.83). This suggests that higher SCQ scores, which imply more autism spectrum features, are associated with higher prevalence of eczema symptoms. While no causal relationships can be made, ASD might be associated with eczema.

Association of Autism Spectrum Disorder with Obsessive-Compulsive and Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Traits and Response Inhibition in a Community Sample.

We examined co-occurrence of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) with (traits of) attention-deficit/hyperactivity (ADHD), obsessive-compulsive (OCD) and inhibition deficits in a community sample (n=16,676) and tested whether having a sibling with ASD manifested in increased features of ADHD, OCD or inhibition deficits. Individuals with ASD had increased ADHD and OCD traits compared with individuals without ASD. Individuals with a sibling with ASD exhibited more ADHD traits than did individuals whose sibling did not have ASD. The "sibling effect" on manifestation of ADHD traits was observed in individuals with and without ASD. Having a sibling with ASD did not affect OCD traits. Inhibition was impaired in individuals with ASD who had a sibling with ASD only.

Increased susceptibility to ethylmercury-induced mitochondrial dysfunction in a subset of autism lymphoblastoid cell lines.

The association of autism spectrum disorders with oxidative stress, redox imbalance, and mitochondrial dysfunction has become increasingly recognized. In this study, extracellular flux analysis was used to compare mitochondrial respiration in lymphoblastoid cell lines (LCLs) from individuals with autism and unaffected controls exposed to ethylmercury, an environmental toxin known to deplete glutathione and induce oxidative stress and mitochondrial dysfunction. We also tested whether pretreating the autism LCLs with N-acetyl cysteine (NAC) to increase glutathione concentrations conferred protection from ethylmercury. Examination of 16 autism/control LCL pairs revealed that a subgroup (31%) of autism LCLs exhibited a greater reduction in ATP-linked respiration, maximal respiratory capacity, and reserve capacity when exposed to ethylmercury, compared to control LCLs. These respiratory parameters were significantly elevated at baseline in the ethylmercury-sensitive autism subgroup as compared to control LCLs. NAC pretreatment of the sensitive subgroup reduced (normalized) baseline respiratory parameters and blunted the exaggerated ethylmercury-induced reserve capacity depletion. These findings suggest that the epidemiological link between environmental mercury exposure and an increased risk of developing autism may be mediated through mitochondrial dysfunction and support the notion that a subset of individuals with autism may be vulnerable to environmental influences with detrimental effects on development through mitochondrial dysfunction.

Association of Autism Spectrum Disorders with Secondhand Smoke Exposure

Objectives: Second Hand Smoke (SHS) exposure has been associated with neurobehavioral disorders among children. Our objective was to evaluate relationship between SHS and Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) in children in the United States (US) and to assess sex distribution of ASD when exposed to SHS. Methods: Parent-reported postnatal SHS exposure inside and outside the house and ASD was examined in children younger than 12 years using the 2011-2012 National Survey on Children's Health. The physician diagnosis of current ASD as reported by the parents was used as the outcome variable. Multiple logistic regression models adjusted for potential confounders and complex survey designs were used to assess associations. Results: Of the 61,076 children (equivalent to weighted 49 million children), 20% had SHS exposure, and 4% were exposed to SHS inside the house, corresponding to a weighted 10 million and 2 million children, respectively. For all children irrespective of SHS exposure status, ASD weighted prevalence and 95% confidence interval was 1.81% (1.56, 2.05) equivalent to 1 in 55 children. Weighted prevalence of ASD in children exposed to SHS outside the house was 2.26% (1.64, 2.87), and 2.57% (1.26, 3.88) with SHS inside the house, compared to 1.67% (1.39, 1.93) in those without SHS exposure (p&lt;0.01). Girls constituted 48% of the total sample. Girls exposed to SHS had 21% higher risk of age adjusted ASD compared to unexposed girls (OR=1.21, 95% CI: 1.01, 1.44, p=0.038). With covariate adjustment, girls had 22% higher risk of ASD when exposed to SHS in comparison to unexposed girls (OR=1.22, 95% CI: 1.02, 1.46, p=0.034). In addition, increasing age of the child, unstable family structure (step or single parent) and mother's age were significantly related to ASD in girls. In boys, increasing age was the only variable significantly associated with ASD and no relationship with SHS was noted. Conclusions: US girls experience a higher prevalence of SHS related ASD.

Research round-up

Research round-up

Autism Spectrum Disorder

Independent studies report association of autism spectrum disorder with air pollution exposure and a functional promoter variant (rs1858830) in the MET receptor tyrosine kinase (MET) gene. Toxicological data find altered brain Met expression in mice after prenatal exposure to a model air pollutant. Our objective was to investigate whether air pollution exposure and MET rs1858830 genotype interact to alter the risk of autism spectrum disorder.We studied 252 cases of autism spectrum disorder and 156 typically developing controls from the Childhood Autism Risk from Genetics and the Environment Study. Air pollution exposure was assigned for local traffic-related sources and regional sources (particulate matter, nitrogen dioxide, and ozone). MET genotype was determined by direct resequencing.Subjects with both MET rs1858830 CC genotype and high air pollutant exposures were at increased risk of autism spectrum disorder compared with subjects who had both the CG/GG genotypes and lower air pollutant exposures. There was evidence of multiplicative interaction between NO2 and MET CC genotype (P= 0.03).MET rs1858830 CC genotype and air pollutant exposure may interact to increase the risk of autism spectrum disorder.

Frequent association of autism spectrum disorder in patients with childhood onset epilepsy

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) has a close relationship with epilepsy. This study retrospectively examined patients with epilepsy associated with ASD. Among the 519 patients with epilepsy, 79 patients (15.2%) had ASD. Sixty-two patients had idiopathic ASD and 17 had secondary ASD. The epilepsy patients with idiopathic ASD were retrospectively analyzed. There were 47 males and 15 females, ranging from 2 to 43 years of age (median 11 years). The most frequent age at the onset of seizures was 4 years, and 85% occurred before 10. ASD was detected after the onset of epilepsy in 29 cases (46.8%), and eight of them had been overlooked for more than five years. Most of these were high-functioning ASD cases. The most frequent type of seizure was a complex partial seizure (CPS; 68%). Paroxysmal activities on EEG were localized in the frontal area in about half of the cases. Multiple anti-epileptic drugs were used in 33.8% cases (two in 17.7%, three in 16.1%), and 67.3% of the patients were seizure-free for more than two years. An amelioration of the autistic symptoms occurred after epilepsy treatment in five cases (8%). CPS with frontal paroxysms occurring from one to nine years of age seems to be characteristic of epilepsy associated with ASD.

O5-1 The association of autism spectrum disorder and unprovoked seizures in the first year of life – a population-based study

O5-1 The association of autism spectrum disorder and unprovoked seizures in the first year of life – a population-based study

Association of the DAO and DAOA gene polymorphisms with autism spectrum disorders in boys in Korea: A preliminary study

We examined the association of autism spectrum disorders (ASD) with polymorphisms in the DAO and DAOA genes. The sample comprised 57 children with ASD, 47 complete trios, and 83 healthy controls in Korea. Although the transmission disequilibrium test showed no association, a population-based case-control study showed significant associations between the rs3918346 and rs3825251 SNPs of the DAO gene and boys with ASD.