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Prenatal exposure to beta 2-adrenergic receptor agonists and risk of autism spectrum disorders
Journal article   Open access   Peer reviewed

Prenatal exposure to beta 2-adrenergic receptor agonists and risk of autism spectrum disorders

Lisa A. Croen, Susan L. Connors, Marilyn Matevia, Yinge Qian, Craig Newschaffer and Andrew W. Zimmerman
Journal of neurodevelopmental disorders, v 3(4)
01 Dec 2011
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11689-011-9093-4
PMID: 21874331
Featured in Collection :   UN Sustainable Development Goals @ Drexel
url
https://doi.org/10.1007/s11689-011-9093-4View
Published, Version of Record (VoR)CC BY V4.0,  Open

Abstract

Clinical Neurology Life Sciences & Biomedicine Neurosciences Neurosciences & Neurology Science & Technology
This study aims to investigate the association between prenatal exposure to terbutaline and other beta 2 adrenergic receptor (B2AR) agonists and autism spectrum disorders (ASDs). The methodology used is a case-control study among children born from 1995 to 1999 at Kaiser Permanente Northern California hospitals. Cases (n=291) were children with an ASD diagnosis; controls (n=284) were children without ASDs, randomly sampled and frequency-matched to cases on sex, birth year, and delivery hospital. Exposure to B2AR agonists during 30 days prior to conception and each trimester of pregnancy was ascertained from prenatal medical records and health plan databases. The frequency of exposure to any B2AR agonist during pregnancy was similar for mothers of children with ASD and mothers of controls (18.9% vs. 14.8%, P=0.19). Exposure to B2AR agonists other than terbutaline was not associated with an increased risk for ASDs. However, terbutaline exposure for >2 days during the third trimester was associated with more than a fourfold increased risk for ASDs independent of indication although the limited sample size resulted in an imprecise and nonsignificant effect estimate (ORadj=4.4; 95% confidence interval, 0.8-24.6). This analysis does not offer evidence linking B2AR exposure in pregnancy with autism risk. However, exposure to terbutaline during the third trimester for >2 days may be associated with an increased risk of autism. Should this result be confirmed in larger samples, it would point to late pregnancy as an etiologic window of interest in autism risk factor research.

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37 citations in Web of Science
41 citations in Scopus

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Collaboration types
Domestic collaboration
Web of Science research areas
Clinical Neurology
Neurosciences
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