Children with autism are more likely to show severe social symptoms if their mother had chronic asthma or allergies while pregnant.
That’s the finding of new research by scientists at the University of Sydney, in Australia.
They believe that the child’s immune system may be causing the more severe symptoms.
Study leader Shrujna Patel said mothers with chronic asthma or allergies had children who faced greater social difficulties and had more restricted behaviours
The researchers say their findings present potential new targets for drugs.
First study into links with mother’s immune issues
The scientists maintain that their study is groundbreaking.
They say it is the first to examine links between the mother’s immune problems and the severity of autism symptoms in a “well-characterised cohort of children”.
Previous studies on animals have shown that an immune reaction during pregnancy causes autism-like conditions in offspring.
Psychologist professor Adam Guastella was one of the lead researchers in the new study.
He said the findings suggest “an immune-mediated subtype of autism driven by the body’s inflammatory and immunological systems”.
The Australian study looked at data from 220 children in the Western Australian Autism Biological Registry (WAABR).
‘Significant influence’ on symptoms
It showed the mother’s chronic asthma or allergies had a “significant influence” on the severity of the child’s autism.
They measured the severity using the Social Responsiveness Scale (SRS). This is a 65-item scale measuring interaction, language and restricted behaviours.
Shrujna Patel is a PhD candidate who led the study. She said the results suggested that the children of mothers with chronic asthma or allergies “had more difficulty understanding social situations and displayed more restricted behaviours or unusual interests”.
As well as using the SRS, the researchers tested the same children using the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule (ADOS).
However, unlike the SRS, the ADOS measure revealed “no influence” on “severity scores”.
The ADOS is an assessment that uses simple activities and questions relevant to an autism diagnosis.
The study was published in Molecular Psychiatry.
Related:
Published: 1 November 2017
