Manning J T, Baron-Cohen S, Wheelwright S, Sanders G
Population and Evolutionary Biology Research Group, School of Biological Sciences, University of Liverpool, United Kingdom.
Dev Med Child Neurol. 2001 Mar;43(3):160-4.
It has been suggested that autism may arise as the result of exposure to high concentrations of prenatal testosterone. There is evidence that the ratio of the lengths of the 2nd and 4th digit (2D:4D) may be negatively correlated with prenatal testosterone. We measured 2D:4D in 95 families recruited via the National Autistic Society, UK. The sample comprised a total 72 children with autism (62 males, 10 females; age range 2 to 14 years), including 23 children (20 males, three females) with Asperger syndrome (AS), 34 siblings, 88 fathers, 88 mothers and sex- and age-matched control participants. We found that the 2D:4D ratios of children with autism, their siblings, fathers and mothers were lower than population normative values. Children with AS, who share the social and communicative symptoms of autism but have normal or even high IQ, had higher 2D:4D ratios than children with autism but lower ratios than population normative values. There were positive associations between 2D:4D ratios of children with autism and the ratios of their relatives. Children with autism had lower than expected 2D:4D ratios and children with AS higher ratios than expected in relation to their fathers' 2D:4D ratio. It was concluded that 2D:4D ratio may be a possible marker for autism which could implicate prenatal testosterone in its aetiology.
有人提出，自闭症可能是由于孕期接触高浓度睾酮所致。有证据表明，第二和第四指长度之比（2D:4D）可能与孕期睾酮呈负相关。我们对通过英国国家自闭症协会招募的95个家庭的2D:4D进行了测量。样本包括总共72名自闭症儿童（62名男性，10名女性；年龄范围2至14岁），其中包括23名患有阿斯伯格综合征（AS）的儿童（20名男性，3名女性）、34名兄弟姐妹、88名父亲、88名母亲以及性别和年龄匹配的对照参与者。我们发现，自闭症儿童及其兄弟姐妹、父亲和母亲的2D:4D比值低于人群正常值。患有AS的儿童具有自闭症的社交和沟通症状，但智商正常甚至较高，他们的2D:4D比值高于自闭症儿童，但低于人群正常值。自闭症儿童的2D:4D比值与其亲属的比值之间存在正相关。与父亲的2D:4D比值相比，自闭症儿童的2D:4D比值低于预期，而患有AS的儿童的比值高于预期。研究得出结论，2D:4D比值可能是自闭症的一个潜在标志物，这可能意味着孕期睾酮在其病因学中起作用。
