Grant Number:
Principal Investigator:
Newschaffer, Craig J
Institution:
Drexel University
Most Recent Award Year:
2015
Lifestage of Participants:
Exposure:
Pre-conception; Prenatal; Adulthood (mother)
Assessment:
Pre-conception; Prenatal; Infant (0-1 year); Youth (1-18 years, specifically at 1 and 3 years)
Exposures:
Personal Care/Consumer Products:
Triclosan, Triclocarban
Health Outcomes:
Fetal testosterone as a mediating factor:
Neurological/Cognitive Outcomes:
Autism spectrum disorder (ASD); Neurodevelopmental outcomes
Biological Sample:
Cord blood; Urine (mother); Meconium
Abstract:
Autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) are a major public health concern in the United States affecting more than 1% of the nation's children in all racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic groups. The male-to-female prevalence ratio of roughly 4:1 in ASD is a well-recognized, but poorly-understood, phenomenon. An explicit focus on potential etiologic pathways consistent with this gender difference should be a priority in attempts to elucidate ASD causal mechanisms, including those amenable to environmental influence. Androgens, in particular testosterone, produced during pregnancy act on the brain to produce permanent gender differences in structure and function. Some researchers have hypothesized that ASD is an extreme presentation of "male brain," with fetal testosterone as the possible determining factor. Few endocrine disrupting chemicals are known to act on androgens; however, triclosans and triclocarbans (TCS/TCC) have been shown to have androgenic potential and are now widely used in liquid soap, toothpaste, mouth rinse, and other personal care products. Capitalizing on the availability of stored biosamples from a prospective cohort study of 213 mothers of children with ASD at the start of a subsequent pregnancy, we propose to assess prenatal TCS/TCC exposure in maternal prenatal urine samples and fetal testosterone levels in both cord blood and meconium and then and correlate these measures with ASD-related outcomes evaluated at 12 mos and 36 mos of age in the children born into the cohort. Fetal testosterone level will be explored as a potential mediating and/or moderating factor in associations between TCS/TCC and early ASD-related outcomes. The study will investigate a potentially avoidable environmental ASD risk factor, provide evidence related to an etiologic mechanism that comports with the observed ASD gender ratio, and generate i data on a fetal testosterone levels as assessed in meconium.
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Related NIEHS-Funded Study Populations
Early Autism Risk Longitudinal Investigation (EARLI)
Principal Investigator:
Newschaffer, Craig
| Study Population Page Study Population c47
Institution:
Drexel University
Location:
California; Maryland; Pennsylvania
Number of Participants::
~225
Brief Description::
This was a multi-site prospective cohort study of pregnant mothers who already have an autistic child. The study enrolled 225 siblings of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) probands to examine possible environmental risk factors for autism and study whether there is any interplay between environmental factors and genetic susceptibility.