Maternal Mid-Gestation Cytokine Dysregulation in Mothers of Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder

S Casey1,2,3, M Carter4,5, A M Looney4,5

  • 1Irish Centre for Foetal and Neonatal Translational Research, University College Cork, Cork, Ireland. Sophie.casey@umail.ucc.ie.

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a developmental disorder characterised by deficits in social interactions and communication, with stereotypical and repetitive behaviours. Recent evidence suggests that maternal immune dysregulation may predispose offspring to ASD. Independent samples t-tests revealed downregulation of IL-17A concentrations in cases, when compared to controls, at both 15 weeks (p = 0.02), and 20 weeks (p = 0.02), which persisted at 20 weeks following adjustment for confounding variables. This adds to the growing body of evidence that maternal immune regulation may play a role in foetal neurodevelopment.

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