Journal ArticleDOI
Characteristics of fetal anticonvulsant syndrome associated autistic disorder
Adelene D. Rasalam,H. Hailey,Justin H. G. Williams,S. J. Moore,Peter D. Turnpenny,David J Lloyd,John Dean +6 more
Reads0
Chats0
TLDR
It was concluded that prenatal exposure to anticonvulsant medication is a risk factor for the development of an ASD.Abstract:
The aim of this study was to evaluate the clinical features and frequency of autistic disorder or Asperger syndrome (AS; according to Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 4th edition [DSM-IV] criteria) in children exposed to anticonvulsant medication in utero. During a 20-year study period, 626 children were born in Aberdeen to mothers taking antiepileptic drugs (AEDs). The study examined long-term effects of prenatal exposure to AEDs in 260 children (122 males, 138 females). Of these, 26 (16 males) were reported by parents to have social or behavioural difficulties. Eleven children (6 males, 5 females) fulfilled the DSM-IV criteria for autistic disorder and one (female) fulfilled the DSM-IV criteria for AS. These children comprised 4.6% of the exposed children studied, and 1.9% of all exposed children born during the study period. Mean age of these children at diagnosis was 5 years 4 months (SD 2y 11mo) and 9 years 10 months (SD 3y 10mo) at the time of this study. Other children from the group of 26 had difficulties in areas of speech and language development and social communication but did not meet the criteria for an autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Sodium valproate was the drug most commonly associated with autistic disorder, five of 56 (8.9%) of the study children exposed to sodium valproate alone had either autistic disorder or AS. It was concluded that prenatal exposure to anticonvulsant medication is a risk factor for the development of an ASD. Fetal anticonvulsant syndrome associated autistic disorder is characterized by an even sex ratio, absence of regression or skill loss, and language delay in the absence of global delay.read more
Citations
More filters
Journal ArticleDOI
The Epidemiology of Autism Spectrum Disorders
Craig J. Newschaffer,Lisa A. Croen,Julie L. Daniels,Ellen Giarelli,Judith K. Grether,Susan E. Levy,David S. Mandell,Lisa Miller,Jennifer Pinto-Martin,Judy Reaven,Ann Reynolds,Catherine Rice,Diana Schendel,Gayle C. Windham +13 more
TL;DR: Future epidemiologic research should focus on expanding population-based descriptive data on ASDs, exploring candidate risk factors in large well-designed studies incorporating both genetic and environmental exposure data and addressing possible etiologic heterogeneity in studies that can stratify case groups and consider alternate endophenotypes.
Journal ArticleDOI
Prenatal valproate exposure and risk of autism spectrum disorders and childhood autism.
Jakob Christensen,Therese Koops Grønborg,Merete Juul Sørensen,Diana Schendel,Erik T. Parner,Lars Pedersen,Mogens Vestergaard +6 more
TL;DR: Maternal use of valproate during pregnancy was associated with a significantly increased risk of autism spectrum disorder and childhood autism in the offspring, even after adjusting for maternal epilepsy.
Journal ArticleDOI
Consensus Paper: Pathological Role of the Cerebellum in Autism
S. Hossein Fatemi,Kimberly A. Aldinger,Paul Ashwood,Margaret L. Bauman,Charles D. Blaha,Gene J. Blatt,Abha Chauhan,Ved Chauhan,Stephen R. Dager,Price E. Dickson,Annette Estes,Dan Goldowitz,Detlef H. Heck,Thomas L. Kemper,Bryan H. King,Loren A. Martin,Kathleen J. Millen,Guy Mittleman,Matthew W. Mosconi,Antonio M. Persico,John A. Sweeney,Sara Jane Webb,John P. Welsh +22 more
TL;DR: The diversity of opinions regarding the involvement of this important site in the pathology of autism will be observed, and points of consensus include presence of abnormal cerebellar anatomy, abnormal neurotransmitter systems, oxidative stress, Cerebellar motor and cognitive deficits, and neuroinflammation in subjects with autism.
Journal ArticleDOI
Autism risk factors: genes, environment, and gene-environment interactions.
Pauline Chaste,Marion Leboyer +1 more
TL;DR: The aim of this review is to summarize the key findings from genetic and epidemiological research, which show that autism is a complex disorder resulting from the combination of genetic and environmental factors.
Journal ArticleDOI
Valproic acid in pregnancy: how much are we endangering the embryo and fetus?
TL;DR: It seems that several other AEDs potentiate the teratogenic effects of VPA, and when valproate cannot be avoided in pregnancy, the lowest possible effective dose should be prescribed in 2-3 divided doses, preferably as monotherapy.
References
More filters
Journal ArticleDOI
Valproic acid defines a novel class of HDAC inhibitors inducing differentiation of transformed cells
Martin Göttlicher,Saverio Minucci,Ping Zhu,Oliver H. Krämer,Annemarie Schimpf,Sabrina Giavara,Jonathan P. Sleeman,Francesco Lo Coco,Clara Nervi,Pier Giuseppe Pelicci,Thorsten Heinzel +10 more
TL;DR: Valproic acid induces differentiation of carcinoma cells, transformed hematopoietic progenitor cells and leukemic blasts from acute myeloid leukemia patients, and tumor growth and metastasis formation are significantly reduced in animal experiments, suggesting that it might serve as an effective drug for cancer therapy.
Journal ArticleDOI
Histone deacetylase is a direct target of valproic acid, a potent anticonvulsant, mood stabilizer, and teratogen
Christopher J. Phiel,Fang Zhang,Eric Y. Huang,Matthew G. Guenther,Mitchell A. Lazar,Peter S. Klein +5 more
TL;DR: It is proposed that inhibition of histone deacetylase provides a mechanism for valproic acid-induced birth defects and could also explain the efficacy of valproIC acid in the treatment of bipolar disorder.
Journal ArticleDOI
Pervasive developmental disorders in preschool children.
Suniti Chakrabarti,Eric Fombonne +1 more
TL;DR: The authors' results suggest that rates of PDD are higher than previously reported, and attention is nevertheless drawn to the important needs of a substantial minority of preschool children.