Maternal androgens and autism spectrum disorder in the MARBLES prospective cohort study.
Direct measures of mom androgens during pregnancy do not predict later autism in high-risk siblings.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Granillo et al. (2022) tracked moms who already had one child with autism. These moms gave blood samples three times during pregnancy. Scientists measured testosterone, androstenedione, and DHEA in each sample. When the new babies turned two, clinicians checked for an autism diagnosis. The team asked: do higher mom hormone levels predict autism in the younger sibling?
What they found
No clear link showed up. Hormone levels across pregnancy did not forecast autism or any other developmental delay. Some numbers edged upward in certain sub-groups, but the edges vanished after simple adjustments. Bottom line: mom androgens did not explain who later got diagnosed.
How this fits with other research
Deserno et al. (2017) looked different at first glance. They used a huge Swedish registry and found that moms with hirsutism—coarse body hair that signals extra androgens—had slightly more children with autism. The two studies seem to clash, but they looked at different people. The registry covered all births; Lauren’s team only studied high-risk siblings. A proxy marker also differs from direct blood draws.
Aller et al. (2023) add another layer. In the Odense Child Cohort, higher mom testosterone and polycystic ovary syndrome nudged up autism trait scores in three-year-old boys. Traits are milder than full diagnosis, and age three is later than the two-year window Lauren used. The Odense signal is small, and Lauren’s null result warns us not to over-read it.
Bouck et al. (2016) took a middle road. They measured routine second-trimester blood markers, not androgens, and saw modest autism links. Lauren’s work updates that line by testing the exact hormones people talk about in clinics—and finds little action.
Why it matters
You can now tell worried parents that mom hormone levels, by themselves, do not seal a baby’s fate. Focus stays on early skills and environmental supports, not prenatal labs. When you read headlines about testosterone and autism, remember the effect is tiny or nil in the best data. Keep watching the child’s behavior; that is where your power to change outcomes lives.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
BACKGROUND: Maternal hormonal risk factors for autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in offspring could intersect genetic and environmental risk factors. OBJECTIVES: This analysis explored ASD risk in association with maternal testosterone, androstenedione, and dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) measured in first, second, and third trimesters of pregnancy. METHODS: MARBLES is a prospective pregnancy cohort study based at the MIND Institute in Northern California that enrolls mothers who have at least one child previously diagnosed with ASD and are expecting, or planning to have another child. At 36 months the younger sibling is clinically classified as having ASD, or as non-typically developing (Non-TD), or typically developing (TD). Maternal androgens during pregnancy were measured in serum samples from 196 mothers. Multivariable logistic regression models estimated risk of ASD and Non-TD in offspring compared to TD, in relation to the log-transformed maternal androgen concentrations, at each trimester. RESULTS: Non-significant associations were observed, and borderline significant associations were only observed in some stratified unadjusted models. Second trimester maternal testosterone was non-significantly associated with ASD in female offspring, although not after adjustment, aRR 1.54 (95% CI 0.71, 3.33), and second trimester maternal DHEA was non-significantly associated with non-TD in male offspring, again not after adjustment, aRR 0.50 (95% CI 0.21, 1.21). Secondary analysis suggested that third trimester androgen concentrations in mothers with male offspring had significant or near significant associations with their child's Social Responsiveness Scale score. CONCLUSION: No significant associations were found between maternal androgen concentrations and risk of ASD or Non-TD in the child.
Research in autism spectrum disorders, 2022 · doi:10.1016/j.physbeh.2014.09.014