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Examining associations between prenatal biomarkers of oxidative stress and ASD-related outcomes using quantile regression

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Abstract

We examined associations between prenatal oxidative stress (OS) and child autism-related outcomes. Women with an autistic child were followed through a subsequent pregnancy and that younger sibling’s childhood. Associations between glutathione (GSH), glutathione disulfide (GSSG), 8-oxo-deoxyguanine (8-OHdG), and nitrotyrosine and younger sibling Social Responsiveness Scale (SRS) scores were examined using quantile regression. Increasing GSH:GSSG (suggesting decreasing OS) was associated with minor increases in SRS scores (50th percentile β: 1.78, 95% CI: 0.67, 3.06); no other associations were observed. Results from this cohort with increased risk for autism do not support a strong relationship between OS in late pregnancy and autism-related outcomes. Results may be specific to those with enriched autism risk; future work should consider other timepoints and biomarkers.

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank Drs. Marisa Patti and Loni Tabb for their guidance in statistical modeling.

Funding

This research was supported by the Eunice Shriver Kennedy National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) (R21HD096356). The EARLI Study was funded by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, the National Institute of Mental Health, the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, and the National Institute of Neurologic Disease and Stroke (R01 ES016443; R24 ES030893), with additional funding from Autism Speaks (AS 5938).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. A.J. Drexel Autism Institute, Drexel University, 3020 Market Street, Suite 560, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, United States

    Meghan E. Carey, Juliette Rando, M Daniele Fallin & Kristen Lyall

  2. Arkansas Children’s Hospital Research Institute, 13 Childrens Way, Little Rock, AR, 72202, United States

    Stepan Melnyk

  3. Department of Pediatrics, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, 4301 W Markham St, Little Rock, AR, 72205, United States

    Stepan Melnyk & S Jill James

  4. Lewis Katz School of Medicine, Temple University, 3500 N Broad St, Philadelphia, PA, 19140, United States

    Nathaniel Snyder

  5. Department of Pathology, New York Methodist Hospital, 506 6th St, Brooklyn, NY, 11215, United States

    Carolyn Salafia

  6. Division of Research, Kaiser Permanente Northern California, 2000 Broadway, Oakland, CA, 94612, United States

    Lisa A. Croen

  7. Department of Mental Health, Bloomberg School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins University, 615 N. Wolfe St, Baltimore, MD, 21205, United States

    Heather Volk

  8. Department of Public Health Sciences, University of California, 1 Shields Ave, Davis, CA, 95616, United States

    Irva Hertz-Picciotto

  9. College of Health and Human Development, The Pennsylvania State University, 325 Health and Human Development Building, University Park, State College, PA, 16802, United States

    Craig Newschaffer

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  1. Meghan E. Carey
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  2. Juliette Rando
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  3. Stepan Melnyk
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  4. S Jill James
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  7. Lisa A. Croen
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  9. Irva Hertz-Picciotto
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  10. Heather Volk
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  11. Craig Newschaffer
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  12. Kristen Lyall
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Contributions

All authors contributed to the study conception and design. Material preparation and data collection were performed by Lisa A. Croen, M. Daniele Fallin, Irva Hertz-Picciotto, and Craig Newschaffer. Biomarker analysis was conducted by S. Jill James, Stepan Melnyk, and Nathaniel Snyder. Statistical analyses were completed by Meghan Carey and Juliette Rando. The first draft of the manuscript was written by Meghan Carey and Kristen Lyall and all authors edited the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to Meghan E. Carey.

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The authors have no relevant financial or non-financial interests to disclose.

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This study was approved by the Drexel University Institutional Review Board (IRB). The procedures used in this study adhere to the tenets of the Declaration of Helsinki.

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Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

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Carey, M.E., Rando, J., Melnyk, S. et al. Examining associations between prenatal biomarkers of oxidative stress and ASD-related outcomes using quantile regression. J Autism Dev Disord 53, 2975–2985 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-022-05625-9

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