title: Prenatal toxoplasmosis antibody and childhood autism.
abstract: There is evidence that some maternal infections during the prenatal period are associated with neurodevelopmental disorders, such as childhood autism. However, the association between autism and Toxoplasma gondii (T. gondii), an intracellular parasite, remains unclear. The authors examined whether serologically confirmed maternal antibodies to T. gondii are associated with odds of childhood autism in offspring. The study is based on a nested case-control design of a large national birth cohort (N = 1.2 million) and the national psychiatric registries in Finland. There were 874 cases of childhood autism and controls matched 1:1 on date of birth, sex, birthplace and residence in Finland. Maternal sera were prospectively assayed from a national biobank for T. gondii IgM and IgG antibodies; IgG avidity analyses were also performed. High maternal T. gondii IgM antibody was associated with a significantly decreased odds of childhood autism. Low maternal T. gondii IgG antibody was associated with increased offspring odds of autism. In women with high T. gondii IgM antibodies, the IgG avidity was high for both cases and controls, with the exception of three controls. The findings suggest that the relationship between maternal T. gondii antibodies and odds of childhood autism may be related to the immune response to this pathogen or the overall activation of the immune system. Autism Res 2017, 10: 769-777. © 2016 International Society for Autism Research, Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, The Mailman School of Public Health, New York State Psychiatric Institute, New York, NY.
authors.forename: Marisa N
authors.initials: MN
authors.lastname: Spann
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, The Mailman School of Public Health, New York State Psychiatric Institute, New York, NY.|Department of Child Psychiatry Faculty of Medicine, University of Turku, Turku, Finland.|Department of Child Psychiatry, Turku University Hospital, Turku, Finland.
authors.forename: Andre
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Sourander
authors.affiliation: National Institute for Health and Welfare, Oulu, FI-90101, Finland.
authors.forename: Heljä-Marja
authors.initials: HM
authors.lastname: Surcel
authors.affiliation: Department of Child Psychiatry Faculty of Medicine, University of Turku, Turku, Finland.
authors.forename: Susanna
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Hinkka-Yli-Salomäki
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, The Mailman School of Public Health, New York State Psychiatric Institute, New York, NY.|Department of Epidemiology, Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health, New York, NY.
authors.forename: Alan S
authors.initials: AS
authors.lastname: Brown
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000913:Antibodies, Protozoan / Q000097:blood*; D000067877:Autism Spectrum Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000276:immunology*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D005260:Female; D005387:Finland; D006801:Humans; D007075:Immunoglobulin M / Q000097:blood; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D016017:Odds Ratio; D011247:Pregnancy; D011261:Pregnancy Trimester, First; D011262:Pregnancy Trimester, Second; D012042:Registries; D014122:Toxoplasma / Q000276:immunology; D014125:Toxoplasmosis, Congenital / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000276:immunology*
chemical_list: D000913:Antibodies, Protozoan; D007075:Immunoglobulin M
keywords: antibody; autism; childhood; toxoplasmosis