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Maternal inflammation during pregnancy is associated with risk of ADHD in children at age 10

Julie B Rosenberg1, Jens Richardt Møllegaard Jepsen2, Parisa Mohammadzadeh1

  • 1Center for Neuropsychiatric Schizophrenia Research (CNSR) & Centre for Clinical Intervention and Neuropsychiatric Schizophrenia Research (CINS), Mental Health Centre Glostrup, University of Copenhagen, Glostrup, Denmark; Copenhagen Prospective Studies on Asthma in Childhood (COPSAC), Herlev and Gentofte Hospital, University of Copenhagen, Gentofte, Denmark; Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, Department of Clinical Medicine, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark.

Brain, Behavior, and Immunity
|November 1, 2023
PubMed

Insights

Prenatal maternal inflammation, measured by high-sensitivity C-Reactive Protein (hs-CRP), is linked to an increased risk of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in children. This finding highlights inflammation as a potential target for improving neurodevelopmental outcomes.

Area of Science:

  • Neurodevelopmental disorders
  • Prenatal programming
  • Inflammatory markers in pregnancy

Background:

  • Maternal inflammation during pregnancy is hypothesized to impact offspring neurodevelopment.
  • Clinical evidence linking prenatal inflammation to later childhood neurodevelopmental disorders like ADHD is limited.
  • Previous studies suggest potential associations from preclinical and register data.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the association between maternal inflammation levels during pregnancy and the risk of ADHD diagnosis in offspring.
  • To examine the relationship between maternal inflammation and the severity of ADHD symptoms in children at age 10.
  • To assess the clinical relevance of prenatal inflammation as a risk factor for ADHD.

Main Methods:

  • Prospective study of 700 mother-child pairs in the COPSAC2010 cohort, followed since week 24 of gestation.
  • Maternal high-sensitivity C-Reactive Protein (hs-CRP) levels measured at gestational week 24.
  • Children underwent neurodevelopmental assessment at age 10, including ADHD diagnosis (K-SADS-PL) and symptom load (ADHD-RS), with adjustment for confounders.

Main Results:

  • A total of 604 children (86%) participated in the age 10 assessment.
  • Higher maternal hs-CRP levels were significantly associated with an increased risk of ADHD diagnosis (OR 1.40, p=0.001).
  • Elevated maternal hs-CRP also correlated with a higher ADHD symptom load (ADHD-RS scores) in the children.

Conclusions:

  • Prenatal maternal inflammation, indicated by hs-CRP, is robustly associated with ADHD diagnosis by age 10.
  • Maternal inflammation during pregnancy is also linked to the dimensional aspect of ADHD symptom severity.
  • Identifying inflammation as a marker offers potential targets for antenatal interventions to improve neurodevelopmental outcomes.
Abstract

Keywords:
ADHDC-Reactive ProteinInflammationPrenatal exposuresPrevention

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