Abstract
Atypical regulation of inflammation has been proposed in the etiology of autism spectrum disorder (ASD); however, measuring the temporal profile of fetal inflammation associated with future ASD diagnosis has not been possible. Here, we present a method to generate approximately daily profiles of prenatal and early childhood inflammation as measured by developmentally archived C-reactive protein (CRP) in incremental layers of deciduous tooth dentin. In our discovery population, a group of Swedish twins, we found heightened inflammation in the third trimester in children with future ASD diagnosis relative to controls (n = 66; 14 ASD cases; critical window: −90 to −50 days before birth). In our replication study, in the US, we observed a similar increase in CRP in ASD cases during the third trimester (n = 47; 23 ASD cases; −128 to −21 days before birth). Our results indicate that the third trimester is a critical period of atypical fetal inflammatory regulation in ASD.
Original language | English (US) |
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Article number | 106247 |
Journal | iScience |
Volume | 26 |
Issue number | 3 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Mar 17 2023 |
Keywords
- Clinical neuroscience
- Immunology
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- General