The Relationship between Maternal Antibodies to Fetal Brain and Prenatal Stress Exposure in Autism Spectrum Disorder
Environmental and genetic factors contribute to the etiology of autism spectrum disorder (ASD), but their interaction is less well understood. Mothers that are genetically more stress-susceptible have been found to be at increased risk of having a child with ASD after exposure to stress during pregn...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2023-05-01
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| Series: | Metabolites |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2218-1989/13/5/663 |
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| author | Amy N. Costa Bradley J. Ferguson Emily Hawkins Adriana Coman Joseph Schauer Alex Ramirez-Celis Patrick M. Hecht Danielle Bruce Michael Tilley Zohreh Talebizadeh Judy Van de Water David Q. Beversdorf |
| author_facet | Amy N. Costa Bradley J. Ferguson Emily Hawkins Adriana Coman Joseph Schauer Alex Ramirez-Celis Patrick M. Hecht Danielle Bruce Michael Tilley Zohreh Talebizadeh Judy Van de Water David Q. Beversdorf |
| author_sort | Amy N. Costa |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Environmental and genetic factors contribute to the etiology of autism spectrum disorder (ASD), but their interaction is less well understood. Mothers that are genetically more stress-susceptible have been found to be at increased risk of having a child with ASD after exposure to stress during pregnancy. Additionally, the presence of maternal antibodies for the fetal brain is associated with a diagnosis of ASD in children. However, the relationship between prenatal stress exposure and maternal antibodies in the mothers of children diagnosed with ASD has not yet been addressed. This exploratory study examined the association of maternal antibody response with prenatal stress and a diagnosis of ASD in children. Blood samples from 53 mothers with at least one child diagnosed with ASD were examined by ELISA. Maternal antibody presence, perceived stress levels during pregnancy (high or low), and maternal 5-HTTLPR polymorphisms were examined for their interrelationship in ASD. While high incidences of prenatal stress and maternal antibodies were found in the sample, they were not associated with each other (<i>p</i> = 0.709, Cramér’s <i>V</i> = 0.051). Furthermore, the results revealed no significant association between maternal antibody presence and the interaction between 5-HTTLPR genotype and stress (<i>p</i> = 0.729, Cramér’s <i>V</i> = 0.157). Prenatal stress was not found to be associated with the presence of maternal antibodies in the context of ASD, at least in this initial exploratory sample. Despite the known relationship between stress and changes in immune function, these results suggest that prenatal stress and immune dysregulation are independently associated with a diagnosis of ASD in this study population, rather than acting through a convergent mechanism. However, this would need to be confirmed in a larger sample. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-11T03:30:01Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-14997a0a29b84046a711d934bf0d7932 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2218-1989 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-11T03:30:01Z |
| publishDate | 2023-05-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Metabolites |
| spelling | doaj.art-14997a0a29b84046a711d934bf0d79322023-11-18T02:26:07ZengMDPI AGMetabolites2218-19892023-05-0113566310.3390/metabo13050663The Relationship between Maternal Antibodies to Fetal Brain and Prenatal Stress Exposure in Autism Spectrum DisorderAmy N. Costa0Bradley J. Ferguson1Emily Hawkins2Adriana Coman3Joseph Schauer4Alex Ramirez-Celis5Patrick M. Hecht6Danielle Bruce7Michael Tilley8Zohreh Talebizadeh9Judy Van de Water10David Q. Beversdorf11Department of Psychological Sciences, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO 65211, USADepartment of Health Psychology, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO 65211, USADepartment of Psychological Sciences, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO 65211, USADepartment of Biochemistry, Grinnell College, Grinnell, IA 50112, USADepartment of Internal Medicine, Division of Rheumatology, Allergy, and Immunology, University of California, Davis, CA 95161, USADepartment of Internal Medicine, Division of Rheumatology, Allergy, and Immunology, University of California, Davis, CA 95161, USAInterdiscipinary Neuroscience Program, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO 65211, USADepartment of Biology, Central Methodist University, Fayette, MO 65248, USADepartment of Biology, Central Methodist University, Fayette, MO 65248, USAThe American College of Medical Genetics and Genomics, Bethesda, MD 20814, USADepartment of Internal Medicine, Division of Rheumatology, Allergy, and Immunology, University of California, Davis, CA 95161, USADepartment of Psychological Sciences, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO 65211, USAEnvironmental and genetic factors contribute to the etiology of autism spectrum disorder (ASD), but their interaction is less well understood. Mothers that are genetically more stress-susceptible have been found to be at increased risk of having a child with ASD after exposure to stress during pregnancy. Additionally, the presence of maternal antibodies for the fetal brain is associated with a diagnosis of ASD in children. However, the relationship between prenatal stress exposure and maternal antibodies in the mothers of children diagnosed with ASD has not yet been addressed. This exploratory study examined the association of maternal antibody response with prenatal stress and a diagnosis of ASD in children. Blood samples from 53 mothers with at least one child diagnosed with ASD were examined by ELISA. Maternal antibody presence, perceived stress levels during pregnancy (high or low), and maternal 5-HTTLPR polymorphisms were examined for their interrelationship in ASD. While high incidences of prenatal stress and maternal antibodies were found in the sample, they were not associated with each other (<i>p</i> = 0.709, Cramér’s <i>V</i> = 0.051). Furthermore, the results revealed no significant association between maternal antibody presence and the interaction between 5-HTTLPR genotype and stress (<i>p</i> = 0.729, Cramér’s <i>V</i> = 0.157). Prenatal stress was not found to be associated with the presence of maternal antibodies in the context of ASD, at least in this initial exploratory sample. Despite the known relationship between stress and changes in immune function, these results suggest that prenatal stress and immune dysregulation are independently associated with a diagnosis of ASD in this study population, rather than acting through a convergent mechanism. However, this would need to be confirmed in a larger sample.https://www.mdpi.com/2218-1989/13/5/663autism spectrum disordergene expressionstressimmune system5-HTTLPR |
| spellingShingle | Amy N. Costa Bradley J. Ferguson Emily Hawkins Adriana Coman Joseph Schauer Alex Ramirez-Celis Patrick M. Hecht Danielle Bruce Michael Tilley Zohreh Talebizadeh Judy Van de Water David Q. Beversdorf The Relationship between Maternal Antibodies to Fetal Brain and Prenatal Stress Exposure in Autism Spectrum Disorder Metabolites autism spectrum disorder gene expression stress immune system 5-HTTLPR |
| title | The Relationship between Maternal Antibodies to Fetal Brain and Prenatal Stress Exposure in Autism Spectrum Disorder |
| title_full | The Relationship between Maternal Antibodies to Fetal Brain and Prenatal Stress Exposure in Autism Spectrum Disorder |
| title_fullStr | The Relationship between Maternal Antibodies to Fetal Brain and Prenatal Stress Exposure in Autism Spectrum Disorder |
| title_full_unstemmed | The Relationship between Maternal Antibodies to Fetal Brain and Prenatal Stress Exposure in Autism Spectrum Disorder |
| title_short | The Relationship between Maternal Antibodies to Fetal Brain and Prenatal Stress Exposure in Autism Spectrum Disorder |
| title_sort | relationship between maternal antibodies to fetal brain and prenatal stress exposure in autism spectrum disorder |
| topic | autism spectrum disorder gene expression stress immune system 5-HTTLPR |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2218-1989/13/5/663 |
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