Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry/Psychology, Sophia Children's Hospital, Erasmus University Medical Center, Rotterdam, The Netherlands.
The Generation R Study Group, Erasmus University, Medical Center, PO Box 2040, 3000 CA, Rotterdam, The Netherlands.
Autism Res. 2018 Apr;11(4):602-612. doi: 10.1002/aur.1921. Epub 2018 Jan 22.
Altered trajectories of brain growth are often reported in Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), particularly during the first year of life. However, less is known about prenatal head growth trajectories, and no study has examined the relation with postnatal autistic symptom severity. The current study prospectively examined the association between fetal head growth and the spectrum of autistic symptom severity in two large population-based cohorts, including a sample of individuals with clinically diagnosed ASD. This study included 3,820 children from two longitudinal prenatal cohorts in The Netherlands and Australia, comprising 60 individuals with a confirmed diagnosis of ASD. Latent growth curve models were used to examine the relationship between fetal head circumference measured at three different time points and autistic traits measured in postnatal life using either the Social Responsiveness Scale or the Autism-Spectrum Quotient. While lower initial prenatal HC was weakly associated with increasing autistic traits in the Dutch cohort, this relationship was not observed in the Australian cohort, nor when the two cohorts were analysed together. No differences in prenatal head growth were found between individuals with ASD and controls. This large population-based study identified no consistent association across two cohorts between prenatal head growth and postnatal autistic traits. Our mixed findings suggest that further research in this area is needed. Autism Res 2018, 11: 602-612. © 2018 The Authors Autism Research published by International Society for Autism Research and Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
It is not known whether different patterns of postnatal brain growth in Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) also occurs prenatally. We examined fetal head growth and autistic symptoms in two large groups from The Netherlands and Australia. Lower initial prenatal head circumference was associated with autistic traits in the Dutch, but not the Australian, group. No differences in head growth were found in individuals with ASD and controls when the data was combined. Our mixed findings suggest that more research in this area is needed.
在自闭症谱系障碍（ASD）中，经常报道大脑生长轨迹发生改变，尤其是在生命的第一年。然而，关于产前头围生长轨迹的了解较少，也没有研究检查其与产后自闭症症状严重程度的关系。本研究前瞻性地检查了两个大型基于人群的队列中胎儿头围生长与自闭症谱系症状严重程度谱之间的关联，包括一组临床诊断为 ASD 的个体。本研究包括荷兰和澳大利亚两个纵向产前队列的 3820 名儿童，其中包括 60 名确诊为 ASD 的个体。使用潜在增长曲线模型，研究了在荷兰队列中，三次不同时间点测量的胎儿头围与产后生活中自闭症特征（使用社会反应量表或自闭症谱系商数测量）之间的关系，而在澳大利亚队列中，或当两个队列一起分析时，这种关系并不存在。在 ASD 患者和对照组之间，没有发现产前头围生长的差异。这项大型基于人群的研究在两个队列中均未发现产前头围生长与产后自闭症特征之间存在一致的关联。我们的混合研究结果表明，该领域需要进一步研究。自闭症研究 2018 年，11：602-612。自闭症研究由自闭症研究国际协会和威利期刊出版公司出版。
自闭症谱系障碍（ASD）中不同的产后大脑生长模式是否也发生在产前尚不清楚。我们在荷兰和澳大利亚的两个大型群体中检查了胎儿头围生长和自闭症症状。在荷兰组中，较低的初始产前头围与自闭症特征相关，但在澳大利亚组中则没有。当将数据合并时，在 ASD 患者和对照组中，头围生长没有差异。我们的混合研究结果表明，该领域需要更多的研究。
