Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2019 Jan;49(1):173-184.
doi: 10.1007/s10803-018-3688-5.

Cord and Early Childhood Plasma Adiponectin Levels and Autism Risk: A Prospective Birth Cohort Study

Ramkripa Raghavan  1 , M Daniele Fallin  2 , Xiumei Hong  1 , Guoying Wang  1 , Yuelong Ji  1 , Elizabeth A Stuart  2   3 , David Paige  4 , Xiaobin Wang  5   6
Affiliations

Cord and Early Childhood Plasma Adiponectin Levels and Autism Risk: A Prospective Birth Cohort Study

Ramkripa Raghavan et al. J Autism Dev Disord. 2019 Jan.

Abstract

Emerging research suggests that adiponectin, a cytokine produced by adipose tissue, may be implicated in ASD. In this prospective birth cohort study (n = 847), we assessed the association between cord, early childhood plasma adiponectin and the risk of developing ASD. ASD was defined based on ICD codes of physician diagnosis. Cord adiponectin levels were inversely associated with ASD risk (aOR 0.50; 95% CI 0.33, 0.77), independent of preterm birth, early childhood adiponectin and other known ASD risk factors. Early childhood adiponectin, assessed prior to ASD diagnosis, was associated with lower risk of ASD, which attenuated after adjusting for cord adiponectin, indicating the relative importance of cord adiponectin in ASD risk. Further research is warranted to confirm our findings and elucidate biological mechanisms.

Keywords: Adiponectin; Autism; Cytokines; Preterm birth.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of interest: None of the authors have a conflict of interest pertaining to this work.

Figures

Fig 1.
Fig 1.
Distribution of plasma adiponectin levels (μg/mL) in cord blood (panel A) and in early childhood venous blood (panel B), stratified by preterm status in the Boston Birth Cohort (Total n for cord adiponectin =674; Total n for early childhood adiponectin= 638)
Fig 2.
Fig 2.
Distribution of plasma adiponectin levels (μg/mL) in cord blood (panel A) and in early childhood venous blood (panel B), stratified by neurotypical children vs. those with ASD in the Boston Birth Cohort (Total n for cord adiponectin =674; Total n for early childhood adiponectin= 638)
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Akintunde ME, Rose M, Krakowiak P, Heuer L, Ashwood P, Hansen R, et al. (2015). Increased production of IL-17 in children with autism spectrum disorders and co-morbid asthma. J Neuroimmunol, 286, 33–41, doi: 10.1016/j.jneuroim.2015.07.003. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Al-Zaid FS, Alhader AA, & Al-Ayadhi LY (2014). Altered ghrelin levels in boys with autism: a novel finding associated with hormonal dysregulation. Sci Rep, 4, 6478, doi: 10.1038/srep06478. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Angelidou A, Asadi S, Alysandratos KD, Karagkouni A, Kourembanas S, & Theoharides TC (2012). Perinatal stress, brain inflammation and risk of autism-review and proposal. BMC Pediatr, 12, 89, doi: 10.1186/1471-2431-12-89. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Ashwood P, Krakowiak P, Hertz-Picciotto I, Hansen R, Pessah I, & Van de Water J (2011). Elevated plasma cytokines in autism spectrum disorders provide evidence of immune dysfunction and are associated with impaired behavioral outcome. Brain Behav Immun, 25(1), 40–45, doi: 10.1016/j.bbi.2010.08.003. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Ashwood P, Kwong C, Hansen R, Hertz-Picciotto I, Croen L, Krakowiak P, et al. (2008). Brief report: plasma leptin levels are elevated in autism: association with early onset phenotype? J Autism Dev Disord, 38(1), 169–175, doi: 10.1007/s10803-006-0353-1. - DOI - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources