Anti-inflammatory drugs taken by millions of pregnant women around the world may raise the risk of autism in their babies.
A study looked at the impact on children who are exposed to glucocorticoids – a class of steroids – in the womb.
Those prenatally exposed to the drugs were between 30 and 50 percent more likely to be diagnosed with autism compared to children whose mothers did not take them.
The study also linked glucocorticoids – which include prednisone and cortisone – to a higher risk of intellectual disabilities, Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and anxiety.
Glucocorticoids mimic the hormone cortisol, which is produced by the adrenal gland and known for its anti-inflammatory effect.
They are prescribed to pregnant women at risk of preterm births because they also help with the fetus’s organ development and maturation.
The drugs are also given to pregnant women suffering from autoimmune or inflammatory disorders such as rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, and asthma because they dampen down the immune response.
However, the new study suggests if babies are exposed to excess amounts of glucocorticoids it can alter their brain development in a negative way.
Anti-inflammatory drugs taken by millions of pregnant women around the world have been linked to autism in children and a number of other mental conditions
It is estimated two to three percent of the population are currently prescribed glucocorticoids.
And in the US, the most common glucocorticoid drugs are prednisone, triamcinolone acetonide, and methylprednisolone.
The steroids betamethasone and dexamethasone, which pass through the placenta, are used in people at risk of preterm delivery and both are usually injected into the mother’s arm, leg, or buttocks.
Some side effects of prolonged glucocorticoid use have been known for decades, the most common being weight gain and the joint disease osteoporosis.
But the latest body of research out of Denmark suggests the drugs could also harm the developing brains of babies.
Researchers looked at the development of more than 1million infants born between 1996 and 2016.
Of the 1.1million children, more than 300,000 were exposed to glucocorticoids in the womb.
Some of the women in the study had been given steroids to prevent premature birth, while the vast majority of mothers had been administered the drug to treat autoimmune or inflammatory conditions.
Researchers revisited the children 15 years later and checked their medical histories to see how glucocorticoid exposure had impacted them.
Children of mothers at risk of preterm delivery who took glucocorticoids were 50 percent more likely to be diagnosed with autism than those whose mothers were not exposed to the drugs.
The risk of intellectual disabilities and ADHD was 30 percent higher in the exposed group of children.
And mood, anxiety, and stress-related disorders were 50 percent higher.
For the children of mothers with autoimmune or inflammatory disorders, the risk of autism and ADHD was 30 percent higher in the exposed group, while mood problems and intellectual disabilities were 40 percent higher.
The researchers say their data supports ‘continued caution’ in the use of glucocorticoids in pregnant women.
In pregnant women with autoimmune or inflammatory disorders, they state alternative drugs ‘might be safer and could potentially decrease the use of glucocorticoids, but evidence is lacking and more research is needed’.
