Rahbar Mohammad H, Samms-Vaughan Maureen, Dickerson Aisha S, Loveland Katherine A, Ardjomand-Hessabi Manouchehr, Bressler Jan, Shakespeare-Pellington Sydonnie, Grove Megan L, Pearson Deborah A, Boerwinkle Eric
Division of Epidemiology, Human Genetics, and Environmental Sciences (EHGES), University of Texas School of Public Health at Houston, Houston, TX 77030, USA.
Department of Child & Adolescent Health, The University of the West Indies (UWI), Mona Campus, Kingston 7, Jamaica.
Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2014 Dec 23;12(1):83-105. doi: 10.3390/ijerph120100083.
Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder manifesting by early childhood. Lead is a toxic metal shown to cause neurodevelopmental disorders in children. Several studies have investigated the possible association between exposure to lead and ASD, but their findings are conflicting. Using data from 100 ASD cases (2-8 years of age) and their age- and sex-matched typically developing controls, we investigated the association between blood lead concentrations (BLC) and ASD in Jamaican children. We administered a questionnaire to assess demographic and socioeconomic information as well as exposure to potential lead sources. We used General Linear Models (GLM) to assess the association of BLC with ASD status as well as with sources of exposure to lead. In univariable GLM, we found a significant difference between geometric mean blood lead concentrations of ASD cases and controls (2.25 μg/dL cases vs. 2.73 μg/dL controls, p < 0.05). However, after controlling for potential confounders, there were no significant differences between adjusted geometric mean blood lead concentrations of ASD cases and controls (2.55 μg/dL vs. 2.72 μg/dL, p = 0.64). Our results do not support an association between BLC and ASD in Jamaican children. We have identified significant confounders when assessing an association between ASD and BLC.
自闭症谱系障碍（ASD）是一种在儿童早期出现的神经发育障碍。铅是一种有毒金属，已被证明会导致儿童神经发育障碍。多项研究调查了铅暴露与ASD之间可能存在的关联，但其研究结果相互矛盾。我们利用100例2至8岁ASD患儿及其年龄和性别匹配的正常发育对照的数据，调查了牙买加儿童血铅浓度（BLC）与ASD之间的关联。我们发放了一份问卷，以评估人口统计学和社会经济信息以及潜在铅源的暴露情况。我们使用广义线性模型（GLM）来评估BLC与ASD状态以及铅暴露源之间的关联。在单变量GLM中，我们发现ASD患儿与对照组儿童的血铅几何平均浓度存在显著差异（患儿为2.25μg/dL，对照组为2.73μg/dL，p<0.05）。然而，在控制了潜在混杂因素后，ASD患儿与对照组儿童的校正血铅几何平均浓度之间没有显著差异（分别为2.55μg/dL和2.72μg/dL，p=0.64）。我们的研究结果不支持牙买加儿童的BLC与ASD之间存在关联。在评估ASD与BLC之间的关联时，我们确定了显著的混杂因素。
