Association Between Antenatal Antimicrobial Therapy and Autism Spectrum Disorder-A Nested Case-Control Study

Area of Science:

• Obstetrics and Gynecology
• Neurodevelopmental Disorders
• Pharmacology

Background:

• Prenatal factors are implicated in autism spectrum disorder (ASD) risk.
• Limited data exists on the association between antimicrobial use during pregnancy and ASD.
• Understanding these associations is crucial for prenatal health and developmental outcomes.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the association between maternal antimicrobial use during pregnancy and the risk of ASD in offspring.
• To explore potential ethnic differences in this association.

Main Methods:

• A nested matched case-control study design.
• Comparison of antimicrobial therapy use in the 3 months before conception or during pregnancy between mothers of children with ASD and controls.
• Multivariate conditional logistic regression models were employed.

Main Results:

• Over half of mothers used antimicrobials during the study period (54.1%).
• Antimicrobial use was lower in mothers of children with ASD (49.0%) compared to controls (55.1%).
• A reduced risk of ASD was associated with prenatal antimicrobial use (aOR = 0.75), notably only in the Jewish population.

Conclusions:

• Prenatal antimicrobial exposure may be associated with a reduced risk of ASD.
• The observed association was specific to the Jewish population, indicating potential ethnic or healthcare utilization differences.
• Further research is needed to elucidate the mechanisms and ethnic variations in this relationship.