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Sadik A, Dardani C, Pagoni P, Havdahl A, Stergiakouli E, Khandaker GM, Sullivan SA, Zammit S, Jones HJ, Davey Smith G, Dalman C, Karlsson H, Gardner RM, Rai D. Parental inflammatory bowel disease and autism in children. Nat Med 2022; 28:1406-1411. [PMID: 35654906 PMCID: PMC9307481 DOI: 10.1038/s41591-022-01845-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/06/2021] [Accepted: 04/28/2022] [Indexed: 01/30/2023]
Abstract
Evidence linking parental inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) with autism in children is inconclusive. We conducted four complementary studies to investigate associations between parental IBD and autism in children, and elucidated their underlying etiology. Conducting a nationwide population-based cohort study using Swedish registers, we found evidence of associations between parental diagnoses of IBD and autism in children. Polygenic risk score analyses of the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children suggested associations between maternal genetic liability to IBD and autistic traits in children. Two-sample Mendelian randomization analyses provided evidence of a potential causal effect of genetic liability to IBD, especially ulcerative colitis, on autism. Linkage disequilibrium score regression did not indicate a genetic correlation between IBD and autism. Triangulating evidence from these four complementary approaches, we found evidence of a potential causal link between parental, particularly maternal, IBD and autism in children. Perinatal immune dysregulation, micronutrient malabsorption and anemia may be implicated.
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Affiliation(s)
- Aws Sadik
- Population Health Sciences, Bristol Medical School, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK
- Avon and Wiltshire Partnership NHS Mental Health Trust, Bath, UK
| | - Christina Dardani
- Population Health Sciences, Bristol Medical School, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK.
| | - Panagiota Pagoni
- Population Health Sciences, Bristol Medical School, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK
- Medical Research Council Integrative Epidemiology Unit, Bristol Medical School, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK
| | - Alexandra Havdahl
- Medical Research Council Integrative Epidemiology Unit, Bristol Medical School, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK
- Department of Mental Disorders, Norwegian Institute of Public Health, Oslo, Norway
- Nic Waals Institute, Lovisenberg Diakonale Hospital, Oslo, Norway
- PROMENTA Research Center, Department of Psychology, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway
| | - Evie Stergiakouli
- Population Health Sciences, Bristol Medical School, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK
- Medical Research Council Integrative Epidemiology Unit, Bristol Medical School, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK
| | - Golam M Khandaker
- Population Health Sciences, Bristol Medical School, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK
- Avon and Wiltshire Partnership NHS Mental Health Trust, Bath, UK
- Medical Research Council Integrative Epidemiology Unit, Bristol Medical School, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
- Cambridgeshire and Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust, Cambridge, UK
- National Institute of Health and Care Research Biomedical Research Centre, University Hospitals Bristol and Weston NHS Foundation Trust and University of Bristol, Bristol, UK
| | - Sarah A Sullivan
- Population Health Sciences, Bristol Medical School, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK
- National Institute of Health and Care Research Biomedical Research Centre, University Hospitals Bristol and Weston NHS Foundation Trust and University of Bristol, Bristol, UK
| | - Stan Zammit
- Population Health Sciences, Bristol Medical School, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK
- National Institute of Health and Care Research Biomedical Research Centre, University Hospitals Bristol and Weston NHS Foundation Trust and University of Bristol, Bristol, UK
- Division of Psychological Medicine and Clinical Neurosciences, Cardiff University, Cardiff, UK
| | - Hannah J Jones
- Population Health Sciences, Bristol Medical School, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK
- Medical Research Council Integrative Epidemiology Unit, Bristol Medical School, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK
- National Institute of Health and Care Research Biomedical Research Centre, University Hospitals Bristol and Weston NHS Foundation Trust and University of Bristol, Bristol, UK
| | - George Davey Smith
- Population Health Sciences, Bristol Medical School, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK
- Medical Research Council Integrative Epidemiology Unit, Bristol Medical School, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK
- National Institute of Health and Care Research Biomedical Research Centre, University Hospitals Bristol and Weston NHS Foundation Trust and University of Bristol, Bristol, UK
| | - Christina Dalman
- Department of Global Public Health, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden
- Centre for Epidemiology and Community Medicine, Stockholm County Council, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Håkan Karlsson
- Department of Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Renee M Gardner
- Department of Global Public Health, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Dheeraj Rai
- Population Health Sciences, Bristol Medical School, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK
- Avon and Wiltshire Partnership NHS Mental Health Trust, Bath, UK
- National Institute of Health and Care Research Biomedical Research Centre, University Hospitals Bristol and Weston NHS Foundation Trust and University of Bristol, Bristol, UK
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