Volume 17, Issue 4 pp. 716-727
RESEARCH ARTICLE

Gestational thyroid hormones and autism-related traits in the EARLI and HOME studies

Caichen Zhong

Corresponding Author

Caichen Zhong

Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Drexel University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA

Correspondence

Caichen Zhong, 3020 Market St, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA.

Email: [email protected]

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Juliette Rando

Juliette Rando

A.J. Drexel Autism Institute, Drexel University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA

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Marisa A. Patti

Marisa A. Patti

A.J. Drexel Autism Institute, Drexel University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA

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Joseph M. Braun

Joseph M. Braun

School of Public Health, Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island, USA

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Aimin Chen

Aimin Chen

Department of Biostatistics, Epidemiology and Informatics, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA

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Yingying Xu

Yingying Xu

Department of Pediatrics, Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati, Ohio, USA

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Bruce P. Lanphear

Bruce P. Lanphear

Faculty of Health Sciences, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada

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Kimberly Yolton

Kimberly Yolton

Department of Pediatrics, Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati, Ohio, USA

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Lisa A. Croen

Lisa A. Croen

Kaiser Permanente Northern California, Oakland, California, USA

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M. Daniele Fallin

M. Daniele Fallin

Emory Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia, USA

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Irva Hertz-Picciotto

Irva Hertz-Picciotto

Department of Public Health Sciences, UC Davis School of Medicine, Sacramento, California, USA

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Craig J. Newschaffer

Craig J. Newschaffer

A.J. Drexel Autism Institute, Drexel University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA

College of Health and Human Development, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania, USA

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Kristen Lyall

Kristen Lyall

A.J. Drexel Autism Institute, Drexel University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA

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First published: 04 March 2024
Citations: 1

Abstract

Thyroid hormones are essential for neurodevelopment. Few studies have considered associations with quantitatively measured autism spectrum disorder (ASD)-related traits, which may help elucidate associations for a broader population. Participants were drawn from two prospective pregnancy cohorts: the Early Autism Risk Longitudinal Investigation (EARLI), enrolling pregnant women who already had a child with ASD, and the Health Outcomes and Measures of the Environment (HOME) Study, following pregnant women from the greater Cincinnati, OH area. Gestational thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) and free thyroxine (FT4) were measured in mid-pregnancy 16 (±3) weeks gestation serum samples. ASD-related traits were measured using the Social Responsiveness Scale (SRS) at ages 3–8 years. The association was examined using quantile regression, adjusting for maternal and sociodemographic factors. 278 participants (132 from EARLI, 146 from HOME) were included. TSH distributions were similar across cohorts, while FT4 levels were higher in EARLI compared to HOME. In pooled analyses, particularly for those in the highest SRS quantile (95th percentile), higher FT4 levels were associated with increasing SRS scores (β = 5.21, 95% CI = 0.93, 9.48), and higher TSH levels were associated with decreasing SRS scores (β = −6.94, 95% CI = −11.04, −2.83). The association between TSH and SRS remained significant in HOME for the 95% percentile of SRS scores (β = −6.48, 95% CI = −12.16, −0.80), but not EARLI. Results for FT4 were attenuated when examined in the individual cohorts. Our results add to evidence that gestational thyroid hormones may be associated with ASD-related outcomes by suggesting that relationships may differ across the distribution of ASD-related traits and by familial likelihood of ASD.

DATA AVAILABILITY STATEMENT

The data that support the findings of this study are available on request from the corresponding author. The data are not publicly available due to privacy or ethical restrictions.

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