Authors: Joseph M Braun Tanya Froehlich Amy Kalkbrenner Christine M Pfeiffer Zia Fazili Kimberly Yolton Bruce P Lanphear
Publish Date: 2014/04/08
Volume: 44, Issue: 10, Pages: 2602-2607
Abstract
Prenatal multivitamin/folic acid supplement use may reduce the risk of autism spectrum disorders We investigated whether 2nd trimester prenatal vitamin use and maternal whole blood folate WBF concentrations were associated with Social Responsiveness Scale SRS scores at 4–5 years of age in a prospective cohort of 209 mother–child pairs After confounder adjustment children born to women taking prenatal vitamins weekly/daily n = 179 had lower odds of clinically elevated SRS scores odds ratio 026 95 confidence interval 008 089 than those who rarely/never took them n = 30 WBF concentrations were not associated with SRS scores The lack of association between WBF and autisticbehaviors may be due to the timing of biomarker measures relative to critical periods of brain development confounding or other modifying factorsDr Lanphear has served as an expert witness and as a consultant to the California Attorney General’s Office but he has not personally received any compensation for these services Dr Lanphear has also served as a consultant on a US Environmental Protection Agency research study which he does receive compensation Dr Braun was financially compensated for conducting a reanalysis of the international pooled study of lead exposure for the plaintiffs in a public nuisance case
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