AJ Drexel Autism Institute, Drexel University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA.
Environmental Health Investigations Branch, California Department of Public Health, Richmond, California, USA.
Autism Res. 2020 Sep;13(9):1601-1613. doi: 10.1002/aur.2365. Epub 2020 Sep 8.
We conducted a population-based case-control study to examine newborn polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) levels in association with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and assess PUFA correlation across two time points. ASD cases (n = 200) were identified through the Department of Developmental Services and matched to live-birth population controls (n = 200) on birth month, year (2010-2011), and sex. Nonesterified PUFAs were measured by isotope dilution liquid chromatography-high resolution mass spectrometry from archived newborn dried blood spots and maternal mid-pregnancy serum samples. Crude and adjusted conditional logistic regression models were used to examine the association between neonatal PUFA levels, categorized in quartiles and according to distributional extremes, and ASD. Cubic splines were utilized to examine nonlinear relationships between continuous neonatal PUFAs and ASD. The correlation between neonatal and maternal levels was examined using Pearson correlation coefficients. In adjusted analyses of neonatal PUFA levels, no clear trends emerged, though there was an elevated odds ratio of ASD for the third quartile of linoleic acid, relative to the first (adjusted odds ratio = 2.49, 95% confidence interval: 1.31, 4.70). Cubic spline analysis suggested a nonlinear association between linoleic acid and ASD, though this was not robust to sensitivity analyses. While individual PUFAs were significantly correlated with one another within a given time point, aside from docohexaseanoic acid, PUFAs were not correlated across maternal and neonatal samples. Overall, our findings do not support an association between neonatal PUFA levels and ASD. Future work should confirm and expand these findings by examining associations with phenotypic subgroups and considering PUFAs in other time points. LAY SUMMARY: In this study, we examined whether levels of fats known as polyunsaturated fatty acids, measured in newborns, were related to later child diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Overall, we did not find strong evidence for hypothesized reduction in risk of ASD based on newborn levels of these fats. Future studies in larger samples and considering other time points may be useful to explain whether these fats are important in brain development related to ASD. Autism Res 2020, 13: 1601-1613. © 2020 International Society for Autism Research, Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
我们进行了一项基于人群的病例对照研究，以检验新生儿多不饱和脂肪酸（PUFA）水平与自闭症谱系障碍（ASD）的关联，并评估两个时间点的 PUFA 相关性。通过发育服务部确定 ASD 病例（n=200），并按出生月份、年份（2010-2011 年）和性别与活产人口对照（n=200）相匹配。非酯化 PUFAs 采用同位素稀释液相色谱-高分辨率质谱法，从存档的新生儿干血斑和母体妊娠中期血清样本中测量。在调整后的条件逻辑回归模型中，使用未调整和调整后的条件逻辑回归模型来检验新生儿 PUFA 水平（按四分位数和分布极端值分类）与 ASD 之间的关联。立方样条用于检验连续新生儿 PUFA 与 ASD 之间的非线性关系。使用 Pearson 相关系数检验新生儿和母体水平之间的相关性。在调整后的新生儿 PUFA 水平分析中，虽然亚油酸的第三四分位与第一四分位相比，ASD 的优势比升高（调整后的优势比=2.49，95%置信区间：1.31，4.70），但没有明显的趋势。立方样条分析表明亚油酸与 ASD 之间存在非线性关联，但在敏感性分析中并不稳健。虽然在给定时间点内个体 PUFAs 彼此之间显著相关，但除了二十二碳六烯酸外，PUFA 之间在母体和新生儿样本之间没有相关性。总的来说，我们的研究结果不支持新生儿 PUFA 水平与 ASD 之间存在关联。未来的工作应该通过检查与表型亚组的关联并考虑其他时间点的 PUFAs 来证实和扩展这些发现。
